Following the Chicago’s heartbreaking loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon, DJ Moore became the latest Bears player to symbolically draw a line in the sand, staring right at GM Ryan Poles as he does so. Much of the discourse in Chicago this season has been regarding whether the Bears should move on from Justin Fields and select a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft. Bears fans and NFL analysts appear to be divided on what the best course of action would be, but to a man, everyone in the Bears locker room remains steadfastly behind Fields. Still, this hasn’t stopped members of the media from asking Fields’ Bears teammates what they think of the possibility of drafting a quarterback in April.
“Somebody asked me that last week. I’m still like, where are you all seeing this?” Moore said, shocked by the fact that he was even fielding this question (h/t Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk). “What makes him not the quarterback for the Chicago Bears right now? I get ya’ll got everybody coming out. What, it’s like two of them? I don’t think they’re better than Justin.”
DJ Moore’s sentiment echoes the same tune sung by multiple Chicago Bears who have yet to throw Fields under the bus, greet him with the side eye, or do anything to suggest that he doesn’t have the full-blown support of the entire Bears locker. Sure, USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye are intriguing prospects, two guys who are likely going to have successful NFL careers. But as a Bears fan myself, I can’t help but find myself continuing to root for Justin Fields.
For the last three seasons, I’ve seen Fields take beating after beating because of below average offensive lines and incompetent offensive coaching staffs. I’ve seen him make plays with his legs that few quarterbacks ever could. I’ve seen him make throws that skeptics say he couldn’t make. Like this one:
That’s a perfectly thrown ball fifty yards down the field with four Browns defenders closing in Fields as he made the throw. And of course, Robert Tonyan drops it. A straight up drop. Explain to me how this was Justin Fields’ fault. Even the Hail Mary attempt at the end of the game — which I won’t be embedding within this piece because I fear it will trigger PTSD flashbacks for myself and all of the other Bears fans out there — is a throw that Fields won’t get credit for that should’ve been completed.
No, Fields isn’t perfect, and in this game against the Browns, the stats tell a story of a quarterback who still has plenty of room to grow. I’m not gonna sit here and tell you Fields doesn’t need to improve. But listen to the guys in the locker room and watch every single play, and I’m convinced that Ryan Poles decision is becoming clearer.
