Andre Smith apologizes to Justin Fields and Bears fans
Andre Smith is entering his fourth year in the National Football League out of North Carolina. As he attempts to endear himself to the Buffalo Bills faithful, he doesn’t want any ill feelings harbored towards him from the city of Chicago.
After leveling the pride of the Bears with a monster hit on Justin Fields, Smith took to Twitter to bargain with their fans.
“I’m sorry Bears fans,” tweeted Smith, with a crying face following. “Ion want no smoke,” he followed, with an orange heart.
It’s all love for Smith, who’s trying to carve out a role in the vaunted Bills’ defense. However, he would’ve been vilified in Chicago if he injured Fields on his impactful hit.
To illustrate, Smith came off the edge on a blitz untouched. As you can see from the video above, Fields’ helmet was knocked off and the football hit the ground. Moreover, the Bills linebacker was called for roughing the passer after the hit.
Luckily, the former Ohio State quarterback mentioned he was fine following the game.
“I’m all good,” Fields said, after being slammed. “I’ve taken many harder hits than that.”
While Fields may have taken harder hits, the Bears would like to limit the amount he receives in the preseason. If the first round selection has to miss time with an injury, it could halt the impressive developments he’s already made during his rookie season.
Fans chant for Justin Fields over Andy Dalton
While Andre Smith attempts to remain on the good side of Bears fans, Andy Dalton is getting booed already, and he didn’t even have to hit Fields to do so. During Saturday’s preseason matchup, fans chanted Fields’ name while Dalton was playing on the field.
During a postgame interview, Fields acknowledged he could hear the chants from Bears fans, and was upset at their reaction to Dalton.
“I noticed it, of course. The fans are awesome, but they also have to realize Andy is a human being, too,” Fields said, following the game. “Andy is out there on the field right now, so I really think it’s kind of disrespectful to Andy, them cheering my name like that.
“They have to trust in coach to make sure he’s making the right decisions, and cheer Andy on. That’s not helping Andy play better, them cheering my name. That’s not doing that.
“I would say my advice to them would be just cheer for who’s out there playing on the field.”
While Dalton may be the starter, Fields is the unquestioned future of the Bears. Evidently, fans want the future to get here already.
Following the disheartening chants, Dalton commented on them. The veteran quarterback pointed out that the negative atmosphere changed after his touchdown pass.
“It’s part of it. They want to see a good product out there,” Dalton said of the fans. “I didn’t hear any boos after the touchdown pass that I threw. Hopefully they’ll be cheering a lot.”
While Dalton knows what he signed up for, he also knows that there’s only one way to keep Justin Fields behind him on the depth chart – winning.