Justin Fields didn’t have the best rookie season for the Chicago Bears. The 11th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft started 10 games last year, posting a 2-8 record with seven touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and five fumbles lost. He also ran for two scores with 420 rushing yards on 72 carries.
The Bears are facing an uphill battle in a tough NFC North division for Field’s sophomore season. There may be some bumps along the way, but the second-year quarterback wants to be coached hard no matter what.
Fields sat down with Dan Wiederer of Audacy’s “Take The North” podcast and discussed his desire to be coached hard, what lights his fire, and much more ahead of the 2022 season.
“I want to be pushed hard. I don’t like when coaches try to be easy on me, this and that, ‘cause I just know that’s not going to make me a better quarterback. That’s not going to make me the best quarterback,” Fields said (9:40 in player above). “I’ve always been like that. In college I remember having a conversation with my quarterback coach, my last year in college, I felt like he was being too easy on me just because coming off my sophomore year highs, we had a pretty good year. Then my last year there I just felt like he was being kind of easy on me.”
Fields transferred from Georgia to Ohio State after his freshman year. He had a tremendous sophomore season as the Buckeyes won the Big Ten Championship. Fields entered his junior season as the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy. While the media may have been hyping him up, he still wanted to be treated the same way.
“The mistakes I was making. I want you to get on my a–, let me know, and boom that won’t happen again,” he continued. “Just coach me hard and I’m not going to take anything personal in that aspect because we’re reaching towards the same goal. We want to win games. We want to win championships. Coach me hard. Make me the best quarterback I can be. Just being coached hard. That’s just how I was kind of growing up in the south, coaches get on you this and that. Don’t whine. Just don’t take it personal because we both want to win at that point.”
“I’m going to take it like a man, move on, learn from it, and move on to the next,” Fields said.
Fields wants to be coached hard because he wants to win. The only thing that may surpass his desire to win is his hatred of losing.
“I don’t like losing. I mean I’ve said it a countless amount of times, last year I didn’t like that feeling of losing so many games. That’s the most I ever lost in my life. I don’t like losing. I’m not used to losing. I never want to get used to losing. Really that’s it. I just don’t like losing,” he said. “I don’t care if I’m the MVP, I don’t care if I did this, went 14-for-16, if we win I’m good. If we run the ball 40 times a game and we win the game, I’m good, I’m fine. So just that. I don’t like losing.”
Fields and the Bears know the battles they’re going to face in this season and beyond. Fields’ perspective is a refreshing one. He knows he can’t do it by himself and he doesn’t care how it gets done. He just wants to win.
“I’m not going to be able to do it by myself. We always say on offense it takes all 11. Even a part of the run game, I’m a part of the run game carrying out my fakes,” he said. “I’m not going to do it by myself. Nobody can do it by themself. It’s going to take all of us… It’s not about me. It’s not about D-Mo. It’s not about Mooney. It’s about all of us.”
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