Chicago Bears wide receiver Darnell Mooney made an interesting revelation about Justin Fields.
Mooney spoke with the media on Wednesday after the team’s practice. He was asked if he had noticed any differences/growth with Fields, who is entering his third NFL season. Mooney immediately noted that Fields’ decisiveness and command of the offense has improved.
“Within the playbook, there’s no confusion there at all. He’s just, ‘I know where I want to go with the ball, I know where this play is designed for. I know the coverage that I want to get this done in,'” Mooney said of Fields.
Then Mooney made the big revelation.
While complimenting Fields’ command of the offense, he noted that the young quarterback was unable to call plays himself in a two-minute drill last season.
“Even during walk-throughs, we’ll do like two-minute drill, and he’s calling the plays himself. So it’s something he wasn’t able to do last year, just ‘cuz he’s learning. … This year he’s doing that. He’s taking control of everything,” Mooney said.
Fields improved last season from his rookie year, though the improvement did not result in more wins for the Bears, who went 3-14 on the season. Fields passed for 2,242 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 15 games. He ralso ushed for 1,143 yards and 8 touchdowns. The former Ohio State quarterback was dealing with a tough situation, as the Bears changed coaching staffs after 2021. But they are entering 2023 with some coaching continuity from last year.
Maybe now that Fields has a more complete grasp of the team’s offense, perhaps the team’s record will show a corresponding improvement.
More must-reads: