Bears’ Justin Fields becomes 3rd NFL QB to rush for 1,000 yards

Justin Fields ran for one yard in the fourth quarter of the Bears’ game against the Eagles today, pushing him over 1,000 for the season and putting him in an exclusive club. The only other quarterbacks to hit that mark were the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson in 2019 and ’20 and the Falcons’ Michael Vick in 2006.

Fields had 95 yards on 15 carries in the game and exactly 1,000 yards for the season after that run.

Jackson won the MVP in 2019 and was the consensus best running quarterback in the league until Fields emerged this season, and Vick is arguably the most impressive runner of all time at the position.

“That would be crazy with Michael Vick,” said Fields, who grew up in the Atlanta area, when asked Thursday about the possibility of reaching 1,000 yards. “It would be awesome. And Lamar, everybody knows he’s a great quarterback, a dynamic play-maker. Having my name with those two guys would be great for sure.”

Fields also viewed Jackson as a trailblazer at the position, saying last season, “There’s not many guys who are like Lamar Jackson ... All the backlash he got coming out of college, [people] saying he was a running back and stuff like that — He’s proving everybody wrong. He’s one of the best in the league. So just seeing that young, Black quarterbacks can get the job done and we don’t have to be old-fashioned, pro-style passers to get it done ... shows that it’s a new wave coming, and the athletic guys can play quarterback also.”

Fields reached 1,000 yards in his 13th game, matching the number it took Jackson to hit that number in 2019. Jackson broke 1,000 in his 15th game in 2020, and Vick did it in his 15th game in 2006.

It’s the 33rd 1,000-yard rushing season in Bears’ history and first by a quarterback, breaking Bobby Douglass’ 1972 mark of 968 yards. Fields broke Douglass’ record in the Bears’ 14th game of the season, the same number they played in ’72.

If Fields reaches 1,200, it’ll be the Bears’ 18th-best rushing season regardless of position. They haven’t had a player reach that mark since Jordan Howard in 2016.