Matt Eberflus: Bears will build offense around Justin Fields' strengths

Justin Fields struggled through a rough rookie season with the Chicago Bears, but the team's new head coach left zero doubt about his commitment to the 2021 first-round pick when asked about his plans for the quarterback Monday.

"Building the offense around him and his strengths," Matt Eberflus said in an introductory press conference, via ESPN. "What does that look like? I don't know right now.

"We have to look at him. We have to evaluate him. We have to see where his skill set is. And then see his camera. How does he see the game? How fast does he process? How fast does he do things and how can we stretch him as we go?"

Fields, 22, started 10 games for the Bears and finished the season with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. No starting quarterback was sacked on a higher percentage of plays than Fields, who was sacked on 11.8 percent of his dropbacks.

Veteran quarterback Andy Dalton didn't fare much better in the Bears offense. The former Cincinnati Bengals starter threw six touchdowns and nine interceptions in his six starts with Chicago in 2021.

Eberflus spent four seasons as defensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts before he was hired by the Bears as head coach in January.