Justin Fields and the reality of adversity

For rookie quarterback Justin Fields, Sunday was an afternoon to forget.

The young passer looked very much like a rookie in a blowout loss to the defending Super Bowl Champions, as the Bears lost to the Tampa Buccaneers by a final score of 38-3. In the loss, Fields completed 22 of 32 passes for 184 yards and three interceptions, and he also fumbled the football three times, losing two of those to the Buccaneers.

By the end, it looked like the young quarterback simply wanted to get away:

After a collegiate career that saw Fields lead Ohio State to back-to-back playoff appearances, including a berth in the National Championship Game a season ago, the young quarterback is getting a taste of NFL adversity.

And the flavoring is anything but sweet:

But a simple truth about playing quarterback, or frankly playing sports in general, is this: Adversity is part of the game. Take this from Joe Montana in his book “Joe Montana’s Art and Magic of Quarterbacking:”

But the position requires you to handle that adversity, through inner strength:

The task in front of Fields right now is rebounding. Not just from an incompletion or interception, but from a loss that has some wondering about his future as a quarterback in the NFL. We can start with the lows, and then look at how those can be turned into highs.

Where does Fields need to improve?

We can begin with a simple proposition, and one that should be universally accepted.

Justin Fields needs to get better.

That should not be some kind of controversial statement. After all, we are talking about a quarterback who entered play on Sunday having completed just 53.5% of his passes for 632 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, and who ranked 32nd out of 32 passers with an Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt of just 3.20.

And that was before Sunday’s statline against the Buccaneers.

So yes, Justin Fields needs to play better. But what are some areas where he can improve?

As with many young quarterbacks, particularly athletic QBs like Fields, it starts with his mind, and with balancing out the moments where he pulls the football down. Take this sack against the Green Bay Packers from Week 6:

This is a very nice design from Matt Nagy, as they boot Fields out to the left using a formation that has Mooney aligned in the backfield. He releases to the left side of the field on a wheel route, and Kmet slides into the flat. Fields comes out of his fake and both Kmet and Mooney are options. But he has his eyes on a bigger prize, the throwback design to Allen Robinson, as the receiver is running a post route away from the flow of the play.

Again, there is a very small window for Fields to flip his hips and make this throw. But with pressure bearing down on him, he pulls it down to evade the presence of big Kenny Clark. Fields does a great job of evading him, and has a secondary window to target Robinson, who is wide open downfield, but he chooses to scramble for the first down instead.

This is the kind of moment that coach Bobby Petrino wrote about in his book “Inside the Pocket,” where he discussed grading quarterbacks on two different categories for each play: The decision, and the execution. Here, the ultimate execution — the scramble for the first down — is a good thing. But Fields has opportunities to hit Robinson for the big play, or even Kmet or Mooney for a smaller gain, but he passes those up, eventually turning to his legs.

Once more, if he is just a step faster with his decision-making, there is a play to be made in the passing game.

That showed up on a sack later in the game, in the fourth quarter with the Bears trailing by ten:

Here, there is a window for the young quarterback to slide and climb in the pocket. Instead, he bails to his right, and opens the door for Clark to spin out of a double-team and get home for another sack that costs the Bears 11 yards. The end zone angle gives you a nice view of Fields’ decision to vacate, and how that played right into Clark’s ability to get home.

Learning to navigate NFL pockets, as well as getting ahead of things with his mind a little better, are two areas where Fields could truly stand to improve. We saw more reasons for this on Sunday against Tampa Bay. Take this sack from Jason Pierre-Paul:

On this 2nd and 7 play, the Bears run a three-receiver concept to the left, while Robinson runs a slant route from the right side where he is the single receiver. Fields, eventually, gets to the right decision, which is tight end Jesse James on the left side running the curl route.

But that decision comes far too late, and Pierre-Paul gets home for the strip-sack. Why? Because after initially looking to his left, Fields then comes off that concept to peek the backside and Robinson’s slant route. On this kind of quick-game concept, the decision has to be made, and there is often not enough time to scan the full field. But Fields, after checking the slant route and seeing that it is bracketed, tries to work back to the left with his eyes, but it is much too late.

These areas of potential improvement are not isolated to Fields. All young quarterbacks face an adjustment to the speed of the NFL game, with the athletes on the other side of the football and the smaller throwing windows. This was to be expected.

But it is an area where the rookie definitely needs to improve. It will take time, and it might not happen overnight.

Where are the positives?

(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

One might think, given the numbers and the issues on film, that Fields is truly struggling and remains a long ways away from being a great quarterback in the league.

But there are moments where you can see the light click on, and you can see the game having slowed down for him a bit. Take this completion to Marquise Goodwin from last week against the Packers:

This is good old 585, with Mooney and Goodwin running comeback routes along the outside while Robinson runs the post route in the middle of the field, operating out of the slot to the right. With the defense showing a middle-of-the-field-open coverage, Fields starts on the right side, trying to see if he can hit the post route to Robinson to split the safeties before looking to Goodwin on the comeback.

But he does not like either route.

Instead, Fields then has the presence of mind to flip his eyes and his feet and, somehow, make an anticipation throw to Mooney on the left side, managing to put this in the perfect spot. With the cornerback using outside leverage, Fields puts this throw to the inside, in the only place where Mooney can make the catch.

This is impressive quarterback play.

Even in Sunday’s debacle against Tampa Bay, there were flashes of what Fields can be as a quarterback in the NFL. Take this completion to Mooney on the over route in a corner/over concept:

Winfield believes he has an interception here, as he reads the QB’s eyes and jumps the route from the tight end. But Fields, thanks to the velocity he puts on the throw, instead completes this for a gain of 22 into the heart of the Tampa Bay defense. Fields’ ability to put velocity on throws like this is going to serve him well, as he navigates the landmines that NFL defenses put in front of him and learns to speed up his thinking in the pocket.

How can the Bears help their rookie quarterback?

(Quinn Harris-USA TODAY Sports)

Of course, the hottest seat in Chicago is not the one under their rookie quarterback.

It is the one under the rookie’s head coach.

If you logged onto social media on Sunday night, you probably saw a topic that was trending on Twitter: Fire Nagy. Bears fans, frustrated with a brutal showing in front of a national audience, took to social media to vent their frustration en masse.

It is worth remembring that Nagy was originally hired with one goal in mind: Developing Mitchell Trubisky. After Trubisky’s shaky rookie season, the organization tried to follow the model put in place by the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Goff: Hire an offensive-minded head coach to help develop the quarterback drafted at the top of the first round.

Nagy experienced some early success with Trubisky, as the Bears won the NFC North his first season and finished with a 12 and 4 record. But the team went 8-8 the next two seasons, and while they managed a playoff berth a year ago, Trubisky never lived up to his draft position, and the organization moved on from one young passer, putting their faith in another.

Fields.

Perhaps the thinking was that the second time would be a charm?

To date, that has not been the case, given the “Fire Nagy” trend on social media and the chants in the stands. But until such a move is made, what can the coaching staff do to help their quarterback?

In Coach Petrino’s book, the first chapter is titled “Offensive Philosophy.” There is a section titled “Taking Care of the Quarterback,” from which I quote at length:

Now, to his credit Nagy and Bill Lazor did a good job at finding those completions for Fields to start the game against Green Bay. Fields’ first passing attempt came on this boot concept, and the rookie took the easy throw to the flat:

Then, a nice man/zone read for Fields, giving him a Double-China 7 concept to the right side with a corner route and a pair of under routes, and then Robinson isolated backside on a vertical:

To the right side Fields has what looks to be a pair of curl routes along with a swing from the back, and to the left side the offense pairs a deep corner route with a slant. Everything is covered initially on this 3rd and 3 play, and only Fields’ athletic ability, coupled with Robinson working himself open in the scramble drill, leads to the big gain.

It’s your job to play call for your quarterback’s success–for his confidence, his energy and for what he gives to other people. You have to do a good job of taking care of the quarterback.

I’d argue this play, on a critical third down in the fourth quarter, does not fit the bill as outlined by Coach Petrino.

Now let us look at Sunday against the Buccaneers. Chicago’s first passing attempt came off of play-action, which usually serves a quarterback well.

However:

Back to Montana:

You must have a certain strength to be able to rebound from an incompletion or interception, because there will be times when a lineman will miss a block, a receiver will miss a pass or a route, or a back might miss a hole–people watching the game might not realize this. The quarterback is the one who gets the blame, or the credit, for the ultimate execution.

Fields has to improve, of that there is no doubt. But there also needs to be improvement around him. The Bears are struggling now and the QB is just one of many problems. There are problems in protection, problems with play-calling, problems with the skill players missing opportunities for plays downfield.

Oh, and this is another issue that might need to be sorted out:

You need to take care of your quarterback, particularly a rookie QB. The Bears are trying at times, but they might need to try harder.

So what happens now?

(Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports)

Right now, Fields is facing the kind of adversity he has not seen before in his young NFL career. “I don’t know how to feel,” he said after the game. “My only reaction to this is to just keep working.”

In his book “Finding the Winning Edge,” legendary head coach Bill Walsh talked about facing adversity in football, as in life:

That is where Fields finds himself now, staring down the challenge of adversity as he adjusts to life as an NFL passer.

This can go one of two ways. Fields and the Bears can work through this and come out the other side of this adversity gauntlet as a better quarterback and team, respectively.

Or, it could go the other way…

Many Bears fans are clamoring for changes in the front office and among the coaching staff, and those calls are understandable. Whether those moves are made or not remains to be seen. But regardless of who is coaching Fields, those around him need to keep working toward Coach Petrino’s goal of taking care of your quarterback. Giving him concepts that he is familiar with, dating back to his days at Ohio State and even back to high school, and finding ways to get those designs into the playbook. Finding completions for him, as the coach wrote about. And those around him need to help as well, making the catches and picking up blitzers where necessary.

None of this, of course, ignores the fact that Fields has to improve as well. As we outlined, there are areas where he can refine his game, starting with reading defenses and making throws on time, ahead of the play. A step late is an eternity in the NFL, and if you are consistently making throws a step late as a QB in this league, it is going to be a problem. That will take time and patience, and it might not happen overnight.

Fields can get there, and a young quarterback with his level of talent can thrive in this league. But quarterback development is a tricky thing, and often time is the cure for what ails the young passer. Time to learn from his mistakes, time in the pocket, and time to fight through adversity.

Fields, to his credit, seems on the right path already:

That attitude might be the first step towards turning this whole situation around.

1

1