2023 Season
September 11, 2023· 2 min read
By Bryan Perez
September 11, 2023 · 2 min read
Justin Fields had a rough start to the 2023 season. He was under constant duress because of a relentless Green Bay Packers pass rush that gave the Chicago Bears offensive line fits for four quarters.
The Packers were credited with 35 pressures, the second-highest number generated by any defense in the NFL in Week 1.
It's difficult for any quarterback to succeed with that much chaos around him, and for a player like Fields, who's still finding his way as an NFL passer, the results were a predictably mixed bag.
Fields finished the game completing 24 of 37 passes for 216 yards. He threw a beautiful touchdown pass to Darnell Mooney and an equally awful interception that Quay Walker returned for a touchdown. He ran for 59 yards.
One step forward, one step back.
It wasn't how anyone associated with the Bears wanted to begin the year.
“It sucks,” Fields said. “Rivalry, Week 1, going against the Packers, I mean it sucks. Nobody’s in good spirits. This one hurts, I’m not going to lie to you. It definitely sucks, but in the grand scheme of things, you’ve got to look at the bigger picture. We have 16 games to go in the regular season. We’ve got a lot of room to improve, a lot of room to grow. And I think that’s what we’re going to do as long as we keep that positive attitude, keep our mentality, keep pushing for greatness each and every day."
Get used to this messaging. Coach Matt Eberflus, like Fields, emphasized the 'only one game" theme. The Bears will return to the practice field and turn their attention to the Tampa Bay Buccanneers in Week 2, hoping to flip the page on what was one of the worst possible Week 1 outcomes.
“We’ll be fine, but it definitely hurts—not only because it’s the first game of the season and it’s a loss, but it’s a loss to [the Packers]," Fields said. 'I just want to say sorry to teammates, all the fans that were rooting for us. But we’ll bounce back, we’ll be good.”