Do Bears lack trust in QB Justin Fields? Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy: ‘No, no, not at all’

There’s no cause for concern. Just ask Luke Getsy.

Don’t worry about Bears quarterback Justin Fields ranking last in everything as Getsy schemes the offense around him rather than through him.

With Getsy as coordinator, the Bears have thrown the fewest passes through the first three games of a season since the 1982 Patriots. Twenty-nine quarterbacks, including Daniel Jones and Mitch Trubisky, have already completed more passes this season than Fields has thrown (45).

But don’t be alarmed. None of this should be interpreted as a lack of trust in Fields.

“No, no, not at all,” Getsy said Wednesday. “We do what we feel is best... to help us win games.”

He went on at length to credit Fields for all the information he processes, saying he is doing “an unbelievable job,” but it’s apparent by Getsy’s game plans that he believes the Bears’ best chance to win is minimizing Fields’ passing opportunities.

He described Fields, who will make his 14th start Sunday at the Giants, as “basically a rookie” because of his inexperience. That comment gave insight into Getsy’s approach.

Just last week, he called run plays on third-and-six, 10 and 17 as the Bears squeaked by the Texans despite Fields completing 8 of 17 passes for 106 yards with two interceptions for a 27.7 passer rating, which is the lowest by any NFL starter this season.

“It’s not the sexiest thing in the world to run the ball on third-and-six, but when we feel like we have [advantages], we’re going to do whatever it takes,” he said. “Whether it’s a run, a pass, a screen — whatever it is, we’re going to do it. We put a lot of time into trying to find those matchups for ourselves.”

He and coach Matt Eberflus also essentially opted to run the clock out going into halftime rather than turn Fields loose with 1:04 and three timeouts.

That came after the loss to the Packers, during which Fields passed 11 times.

When Fields was asked last week whether that type of game plan makes it difficult for him to grow as a quarterback, he replied, “Yeah, maybe, but my No. 1 priority in my job is to run the plays like I’m taught to and to execute them at the best of my ability and to ultimately win games.”

As the former position coach of Aaron Rodgers, Getsy should know as well as anyone that real winning, as in contending for a championship, starts at quarterback.

He’s new to the Bears, so he might be unaccustomed to an offensive coordinator being under siege just three games into a season — especially when, thanks to the defense, the team is 2-1. But there has been a steady stream of sludge from the Bears’ offense for so long, and there’s zero patience for this after Matt Nagy.

Fields’ role is clearly being limited, but the question is why. That answer has massive implications for the Bears.

If it’s because they fail to see that the top priority of this season is to determine whether Fields is the franchise quarterback they need and are too preoccupied with grinding out wins that ultimately won’t mean much, that will cloud their evaluation of him.

If it’s because they’ve already decided Fields isn’t their guy, that seems premature. It would also signal that the Bears are headed for yet another reset at the most crucial position in sports.

The Bears fired everyone after last season and spent the most recent offseason idealizing future salary-cap space and draft picks because they knew this would be a multi-year rebuild. Those moves and non-moves were made with 2023 and beyond in mind, but the shortsighted way they’ve run their offense doesn’t seem to match that philosophy.

Their best outcome is to see Fields emerge as a game-changing passer, but they aren’t signaling to anyone, including him, that they think he can.