Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields is entering a critical third season in the NFL. He’ll be eligible for a contract extension next offseason, and if he proves to GM Ryan Poles and the Bears organization that he’s more than just a dynamic runner at the position, he’ll ink a massive second deal.
Fields’ first chance to prove he’s developed as a passer will be a challenging test. The Bears open their 2023 season at home against the hated Green Bay Packers. It’s the kind of game where every bad pass or poor read will be scrutinized and over-analyzed, and if Fields somehow looks worse than Jordan Love? It’ll be tough to recover from.
But the opposite is also true. If Fields thrives and leads the Chicago Bears to a win, he’ll jumpstart a season that already has high expectations. He knows it, too.
“The first game — playing Green Bay — that’s an opportunity to start this off on the right foot,” Fields told the Chicago Tribune. “That’s an opportunity to make a statement to where the season’s going to go. Of course, we haven’t beat them in a while. So it’ll be good to start the year off strong with them, getting that win and just continuing to get better from there. I’m excited for it.”
The addition of DJ Moore, the assimilation of Chase Claypool to the offense, and the healthy return of Darnell Mooney gives Justin Fields the best trio of receivers he’s had so far in the NFL.
The pressure is on, but Fields won’t feel it on social media.
“I don’t look at it, to be honest. I deleted Twitter. I don’t have Twitter,” Fields said. “It’s just best not to look at that stuff. I honestly feel like there are people in this world where they just want to hate on you or they want to criticize every little thing you do. ‘Well, he could have done this better. Yeah, it was a touchdown, but …’ So it’s just best to not even look at that stuff.”
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