Ryan Day believes Justin Fields is due for a bounce-back performance: 'He'll fix the problems'
It was exactly what Chicago Bears fans were asking for: quarterback Justin Fields in Week 3 received the opportunity from head coach Matt Nagy to make his first-career NFL start. And it went as poorly as Chicago Bears fans could have possibly imagined. Under Fields, the Bears put up 47 yards of total offense in a 26-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns, the franchise’s second-worst total since 1940, trailing only a 24-yard performance against the Lions in November of 1981.
It’s been a bumpy start for Fields, the Bears’ first-round draft pick out of Ohio State. Perhaps the fact that Fields only started because veteran quarterback Andy Dalton was injured added some pressure. Or maybe Coach Nagy continuing to add intrigue to the Bears’ starting quarterback role — which began as a two-man race between Fields and Dalton, and has now evolved into a three-man competition between the aforementioned candidates and Nick Foles — is making Fields’ feel duress.
Regardless of what led to the lackadaisical performance, Fields’ college coach, Ohio State’s Ryan Day, isn’t worried about the former Buckeye. Granted, he didn’t watch the Bears game, but he still feels confident in Fields’ ability to bounce back.
“I didn’t see it, all I did was read and hear about it,” Day said of Fields’ first Bears start. “So I’m not sure exactly how that shook out, not a great start. There’s a lot of young quarterbacks that haven’t had great starts. You think about Peyton Manning’s rookie season, the hardest thing in that league is trying to pull yourself off the canvas and continue to work through.”
Fields did not have a great week under center, and Nagy said Monday that he has not yet named the Bears’ Week 4 starter between Fields, Dalton and Foles.
Fields completed just six of his 20 passing attempts for 68 passing yards and no touchdowns, and although Fields did not commit a turnover, the Bears offense was stagnant. Fields’ offensive line provided almost no protection, as he was sacked nine times. Running back David Montgomery added just ten carries for 34 yards to Fields’ performance, and the Bears had just 47 yards of total offense, while converting a horrific one of 11 third-down conversion attempts.
“[Fields] and I talked about that after the Northwestern game, when you go to the NFL, you’re going to have several days just like this,” Day continued. “You wake up and you got to go figure it out again. I think what survives in that league is the resilience of young quarterbacks to continue to identify what went wrong and get better and fix it. One thing I know about him is he is competitively tough, he’ll fix the problems and he’ll be back.”
Through the first three games of the season, Fields, has completed just 40 percent of his pass attempts for 138 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. He’s added 46 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on 14 carries to his total, too. Dalton, by comparison, has completed 73.5 percent of his passes for 262 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception. It remains unclear if Dalton will be available for the Bears come Sunday, as the TCU product is still week-to-week with a knee injury.
The Bears in Week 4 will host the 0-3 Detroit Lions in a favorable matchup for the home team — one that, if named the starter, could provide an easy chance for Fields to bounce back.