The Bears have put a lot of pressure on their team this year, as an influx of draft capital has demonstrated that no one’s job is safe. Football is a sport that is rich in life lessons and anecdotes. One of my personal favorites is brief and to the point. You can control two aspects of your life: your attitude and your effort. Effort isn’t something that many professional athletes struggle with because of the pure incentive of their salary, but it can be a struggle for young men after they go through the grueling demands the league places on them.
The Bears’ quarterback is not immune to criticism.
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With the trade this offseason and the Carolina Panthers’ disastrous season, Chicago is looking at a second consecutive number one overall pick in the upcoming draft. While the team chose to keep starting quarterback Justin Fields last spring, the team may choose to replace him with generational talent Caleb Williams in the future. There has also been speculation that the Bears will do what they did last year and trade away the first overall pick in exchange for a large sum of draft capital in order to keep Fields. Only Head Coach Matt Eberflus and the Chicago front office know for certain.
On Wednesday, a reporter asked Fields directly what he thought about the uncertainty of his position in Chicago:
“You know, life isn’t fair. I’m only concerned with what I can control; the rest is in God’s hands. Football does not define who I am as a person, whether I am here next year or not. My happiness will remain in the same location, in God.”
Fields has struggled to find a rhythm in eight starts for Chicago this season. Fields has a respectable quarterback rating of 92.3 despite his scrambling. While Fields’ ability to provide explosiveness with his legs adds another dimension to his game, it has caused him to rely more on his legs than his arm offensively. This has kept him from developing much confidence as a passer, which has resulted in the Bears relying more on the air when backup quarterback Tyson Bagent took over for Fields during his injury.
Everyone in Chicago believes Justin Fields’ final five games of the season will be the last straw. If he performs well and the Bears finish the season strong, Eberflus may decide to use Fields as an offensive building block and draft elite wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. to help Fields develop. Without a doubt, this is a tremendous amount of pressure to place on a 24-year-old young man. Aside from his efforts on the field, Fields has impressed many with his attitude throughout the season.
“I’ve had times in my life when I wanted things to go one way but they didn’t, and it ended up going another way that worked out better than I could have imagined.” That’s why I don’t stress about things that happen, instead focusing on what I can control and, as I previously stated, being the best person I can be while striving to be the best player I can be.”
While nothing has been easy for Chicago this season, when your quarterback demonstrates good leadership qualities, it helps the fans swallow a difficult transitional period. The Bears will look to improve and compete in the AFC North next season.
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