Earlier this season, Bears quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko claimed Justin Fields was his own harshest critic, which is really saying something, given the attention Chicago pays to the position.
On Sunday, Fields — trying to beat the Packers for the first time in his career at Lambeau Field — can be his own biggest advocate. And considering the endorsements that teammates have given him the last few weeks, lobbying for him to be considered the Bears’ quarterback of the future, that will be saying something, too.
His inconsistent play has been an issue at various points this season, but Fields is coming off perhaps the best game of his career against the Falcons. Finishing with another strong performance against a rival that’s trying to beat the Bears for a whopping 10th consecutive time would be Fields’ best argument to stay in 2024. Whether that’s enough is another question.
His teammates, in the meantime, are doing the arguing for him.
“I want him to be the quarterback,” wide receiver DJ Moore said after last week’s 37-17 win over the Falcons, in which Fields threw for 268 yards, ran for 45 more and posted two touchdowns. “Now it’s on the higher-ups. It’s up to them.”
On social media Thursday, safety Jaquan Brisker and defensive tackle Justin Jones both shared a Fields highlight reel from the Falcons game, produced by the NFL. Even former teammate Roquan Smith, now with the Ravens, weighed in on Fields’ future on the “Punch Line Podcast,” claiming most people couldn’t name the supporting cast around Fields.
“If he was in a system where he actually had pieces around him, I think the dude could light it up,” Smith said. “He’d be a threat very similar to [presumptive NFL MVP] Lamar [Jackson].”
General manager Ryan Poles can give Fields better supporting players this offseason by trading out of the No. 1 pick from the Panthers and spending the roughly $62 million of salary-cap space he’s expected to have. Or he can keep the No. 1 pick and use it on a quarterback — USC superstar Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye — and trade Fields.
What Poles decides will affect the team (and both Poles’ and Fields’ careers) for years to come. Keeping Fields would indicate a willingness to extend him for more than the $81 million the Giants gave quarterback Daniel Jones last year.
For now, Fields is just grateful for the support from his teammates.
“I think that just shows how much we love each other, not only as players but as people outside of the building,” he said. “You can kind of tell when people really love the game and really are passionate about the game of football. I would say all the guys in the locker room are. When you just see their work ethic, how much they care about the game, how much they care about the team and winning, the team’s success, that just all brings us closer together and focusing on accomplishing one goal as a team.”
The Bears missed their goal of making the playoffs, but they still could finish the season by winning six of their final eight games. If they beat the Packers, they’ll draw comparisons to last year’s Lions, who punctuated a late-season surge by winning at Lambeau to keep the Packers out of the playoffs. They then used that victory as a springboard toward their own playoff season.
The Bears could, too. Whether Fields will be a part of next year’s team is for Poles to figure out. But Sunday is Fields’ last chance to state his case.
