QB rewind: Justin Fields is far from satisfied with his best game as a pro

LAKE FOREST – Completions and decisiveness.

That’s what made Sunday’s performance the best of Justin Fields’ young career, at least, according to the 22-year-old quarterback.

Speaking with the media Thursday, Fields begrudgingly admitted Sunday’s game was his best as the Bears’ quarterback, but he sounded far from satisfied.

“Just being decisive and making decisions, whether it’s tucking the ball down to run or just throwing the ball away, throwing the ball to a receiver,” Fields said. “I think the more decisive you are, the faster you’re playing and the more successful you can be, so I’m just trying to be decisive in every aspect.”

Shaw Local analyst Hub Arkush thought it was Fields’ best performance yet, too, giving the rookie a B+ in his latest film review. Fields was 19-for-27 passing (70.1%) for 175 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

His interception was a desperation heave when the game was pretty much already over. He also ran for 103 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries. That included his epic 22-yard touchdown run.

[ Hub Arkush: Bears were never going to sell at deadline, but that’s good for Justin Fields ]

Bears quarterback coach John DeFilippo called it Fields’ best game “by far.”

“He was very comfortable [Sunday],” DeFilippo said. “I thought that was by far his best game in terms of his footwork, his rhythm and he got the ball out on time.”

DeFilippo referred to Fields’ 22-yard touchdown run as a “generational-type run.” Not many quarterbacks can evade tacklers the way Fields did on a broken play. But as a quarterback coach, DeFilippo raved about Fields touchdown pass.

The Bears ran play action, with Fields faking to the running back and rolling out to his left. He then threw on the run, across his body, to tight end Jesse James, who had cut left toward the left corner of the end zone. The ball nearly grazed the grass before a diving James snagged it.

“That was a mail-box type throw,” said DeFilippo, who motioned the size of a mailbox with his hands. “Fantastic. That’s something we’ve been working on a lot, that we’ve identified we need to keep improving on. Throwing to our left. He’s bought in and gotten better. And that’s, obviously, whenever you can rollout both ways it’s an added strength of our offense for sure.”

The key to that throw is the way Fields kicks his left leg out as he is throwing across his body. DeFilippo said that leg kick enables Fields to keep his body balanced. Even though he was throwing with his right arm while running to his left, his upper body remained straight and tall as he completed his throwing motion.

For Fields, the leg kick happened naturally. He said he doesn’t really think about it when he rolls out to his left.

“I think it does [kick], but I don’t know,” Fields said. “I’ve just naturally done that. I don’t know why I do that, but yeah [DeFilippo] was talking about that in meetings.”

Fields added that he thinks his experience playing baseball growing up helped him learn to throw on the run.

A quarterback like Fields, who is so dangerous once he leaves the pocket, needs to have that ability to throw whether he’s running to his right or left. The fact that he could throw the ball – as DeFilippo suggested – into a mailbox from 20 yards out running to his left is something to be excited about for Bears fans. It’s a small thing on a relatively straight-forward play, but it’s what makes a hard throw look easy.

Development isn’t linear. There are going to be ups and downs through the process as Fields improves his game. Sunday was no doubt a positive for the rookie quarterback, despite the fact that the team lost.

“More time. More games under my belt. More snaps,” Fields said. “Just getting more comfortable slows [the game] down a little bit.”