Bears QB Justin Fields altering footwork in attempt to take fewer sacks

While speaking with reporters last week, recently hired Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus remarked that his offense will be "quarterback-friendly" for 2021 first-round draft pick Justin Fields, who ultimately became the team's starter during his rookie season and produced a mixed bag of results across his debut campaign.

As noted by Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk, Fields finished last season with the NFL's highest sack rate among qualified players at 11.8%. Fields addressed that aspect of his game on Tuesday.

"There’s stuff in the film last year where you could see that, of course, there were some instances where it was my fault that I got sacked," the 23-year-old admitted. "At the end of the day, it just comes to limiting those mistakes and getting the ball out and not taking those sacks." 

Fields added he's changing his footwork in an attempt to eliminate at least some of the sacks he took as a first-year pro. 

"Last year I had my right foot forward in the gun so I’ve been working a lot on having my left foot forward in the gun," he said. 

Per ESPN stats, Fields ended the 2021 season 28th overall with a 73.2 passer rating and with a league-worst 26.4 total QBR. Needless to say, he'll have to improve those numbers beginning in September if the Bears are going to commit to him as their future franchise player at the position.