Bears’ Justin Fields on 49ers: ‘I’m glad that they passed on me’

Three years ago, quarterback Patrick Mahomes celebrated a Chiefs touchdown at Soldier Field by counting to 10 on his fingers — a reminder to Bears brass, which took Mitch Trubisky second in the 2017 draft, that it made him wait until No. 10 to be selected.

Four years later, the 49ers drafted quarterback Trey Lance before the Bears took Justin Fields. Again, the difference in draft picks was eight spots.

Still, don’t expect Fields to glare at the 49ers’ sideline Sunday — even though his best friend on the team said last week that it was certainly motivating the Bears quarterback entering the season opener.

If Lance being picked third overall drives Fields, he doesn’t want to say it out loud.

“The draft is the draft,” Fields said Wednesday. “The draft order doesn’t matter at this point.”

Case in point, he said, was his best friend on the roster, Darnell Mooney. The Bears took him in the fifth round in 2020, and he has blossomed into their No. 1 wide receiver.

“Shoot, he got passed by 32 teams,” Fields said. “So it’s like, ‘You’re in the league now; do your job now. Boom — execute at a high level.’ And it is what it is.

“But at this point, it’s Week 1, and we’re here to play ball. We’re not worried about last year’s draft — ‘Oh, this team passed on me.’ I’m not thinking about that. It’s not going through my head.”

Mooney believes it is. Last week, he said he presumed Fields used Sunday’s opponent as motivation.

“That team passed on him,” Mooney said. “So they’re gonna have to pay a little bit for that.”

Fields shrugged it off — ‘‘Just Darnell being Darnell,” he said — but the game does carry significance. He faced the 49ers last year, but Sunday will be his first matchup against Lance or any of the four other quarterbacks taken in the first round last year. The Bears will face Zach Wilson’s Jets and Mac Jones’ Patriots later this season.

“I don’t think [the draft was] anything personal,” Fields said. “And I’m glad to be here. So I’m glad that they passed on me. Just ready to play this weekend.”

Fields would have reason to wonder why he wasn’t picked higher, though.

The 49ers traded one of the largest draft hauls in recent history — the No. 12 overall choice in 2021, a first- and third-rounder in 2022 and a first-rounder in 2023 — to the Dolphins to move up for the third overall pick. General manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan chose a developmental project in Lance, who had only 319 college passes on his résumé — at North Dakota State, no less — and was 20 at the time of the draft.

Fields, meanwhile, never lost a conference game in two seasons at Ohio State. His only losses came during the FBS playoffs.

Fields befriended Lance during the pre-draft process and has worked out with him.

“He’s a good guy — a down-to-earth guy, good person,” he said.

Lance started two games as a rookie while Rolling Meadows High School alum Jimmy Garoppolo was injured and completed 41 of 71 passes for 603 yards and seven touchdowns with two interceptions. He ran 38 times for 168 yards.

Lance was named the 49ers’ starter this offseason, while Garoppolo, in a surprise, remained with the team as the backup.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus said Lance fits Shanahan’s scheme — ‘‘I think that’s a good offense for him, and I think that they’ll utilize him in the right way,” he said — even if there’s some uncertainty as to what the offense will look like with him under center.

Fields, too, will make his debut in a new system.

“I just think that [Fields] is trying to be the best quarterback that he can be,” Eberflus said. “He’s proven that every single day since I’ve been here.”

Eberflus doesn’t mind if players have extra juice for particular opponents.

“Motivation is funny, isn’t it?” he said. “Sometimes different people are motivated a certain way.

‘‘And I think if you have that under control — meaning self-control — and use that the right way to motivate you, I think there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Don’t expect Fields to glare at the 49ers’ sideline after a touchdown. He said his motivation comes from his sideline, not the opponent’s.

“My guys in my locker room,” he said. “Just seeing the work we put in. [Eberflus] says all the time, ‘It’s about us.’

“It’s not about the 49ers this week. It’s about us — how we play, how we execute. So I’m just playing for my teammates, playing for my coaches and going out here and executing to the best of my ability.”

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