Justin Fields takes a small step, needs a giant leap

Assuming his hip injury heals in time, Justin Fields will go into the Bears’ offseason program in April as the team’s franchise quarterback — ready to build on a foundation season and blossom in Year 2 of Luke Getsy’s offense, presumably with new weapons and a rebuilt offensive line.

Right?

That sure seems like the plan. But we likely won’t know for sure until after the NFL Draft, when we see if general manager Ryan Poles as expected leverages more draft picks out of other teams’ desperation for a quarterback instead of taking one himself.

Fields has made progress this season, but not enough to dismiss the possibility — however unlikely — that after a year of evaluation of a quarterback he didn’t draft, Poles might like someone else better. Even after setting NFL records with his running, Fields’ league-low passing production and struggles in crunch time leave his status solid but not concrete. He’s the Bears’ franchise quarterback until he’s not.

Don’t yell at the messenger. It’s the Bears who created this scenario of doubt and skepticism by giving Fields a shaky supporting cast, with a nondescript receiving corps and a makeshift offensive line that has had virtually no continuity.

That said, Fields — who will not play in the season finale against the Vikings because of a hip injury — did enough this season to keep hope alive. In the first four games, he completed 51.1% of his passes for 117.8 passing yards, averaged 7.0 yards per attempt and had a 50.0 passer rating (two touchdowns, four interceptions). In the next 10 games, he completed 65.7% of his passes for 169.9 yards per game, averaged 7.4 yards per attempt and had a 96.9 passer rating (14 touchdowns, six interceptions).

Fields’ season ended with a dud. He completed 7 of 21 passes for 75 yards with one touchdown, one interception and a 40.8 passer rating and was sacked seven times in the 41-10 loss to the Lions.

Fields also rushed 10 times for 132 yards against the Lions — almost forgot about that. But his spectacular runs, while exhilarating, diminish in value if they’re not complementary to NFL-level passing production.

When Fields was becoming a revelation as a runner at midseason, the Bears scored 33, 29, 32, 30 and 24 points against the Patriots, Cowboys, Dolphins, Lions and Falcons. But as spectacular as it was, it wasn’t sustainable, especially against quality defenses. Sure enough, the Bears scored 19, 20, 13 and 10 points in their next four games, against the Packers, Eagles, Bills and Lions.

“We’d love to say we can run for 200 and throw for 300 every game and I know that that’s just not realistic in this league,” offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said before the Lions game. “I feel like the progression has been really good. I think the pass [protection] has gotten better as the year has gone along.

“I thought that Justin has done a really nice job of seeing the field and making protection adjustments, so the global outlook of the passing game I think has one a really nice job of progressing as we’ve gone through this.”

While upgrades at receiver are necessary, Getsy is counting on “a true relationship of quarterback-receiver” to make a difference. That includes Chase Claypool having a full offseason with Fields and Darnell Mooney returning after missing the final five games. And even Equanimeous St. Brown — who signed a one-year contract for 2023 on Wednesday — building on what Getsy called “natural growth” this season, despite just 20 receptions for 320 yards and a touchdown heading into the season finale.

So there’s a lot of room for optimism that Fields and the Bears’ passing game will blossom in 2023. But that optimism now presumes a lot of improvement in both personnel and proficiency. Getsy and Co. laid a foundation that we can barely see. But that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Poles and Getsy have a lot to prove. And so does Justin Fields.