The Bears need a good look at Fields — and a sharp assessment of whether Matt Nagy is the right coach to pair with him for 2022 and beyond. The final eight games should provide a fair evaluation.
It’s important to evaluate rookie quarterbacks patiently and resist the urge to overreact, regardless of whether the performance is dynamic or disastrous. Even in the modern NFL, when the best rookies no longer sit for a season before getting their shot, the quarterbacks need time. That acclimation period is essentially over for Bears rookie Justin Fields, though. He’ll make his eighth start in the game against the Ravens on Sunday and he’s coming up on the seven-month mark since he stepped into Halas Hall. With eight games left, especially given that he just had a week off to reset, this is the time for the Bears to make a clear assessment of Fields’ progress under coach Matt Nagy. That evaluation goes both ways, with the Bears needing to gauge whether Fields is the franchise quarterback they believe he is and whether they should fire Nagy. Those are separate conversations. This one is about Fields. His position coach, John DeFilippo, described a typical quarterback’s rookie season being marked by “peaks and valleys,” and that’s certainly been true for Fields.
