The QBs Bears are comparing Justin Fields to in Year 2

Justin Fields' progress in Year 2 has come in stages.

Now it's apparently a stage for some rather wild comparisons.

Matt Eberflus didn't want to compare Fields' Year 2 progress at this point to Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, a player he was around as linebackers coach. He did anyway.

New Bears defensive tackle Justin Jones didn't want to compare Fields to his former QB with the Chargers, Justin Herbert. He did it anyway.

"Well, I think Justin Fields is a different quarterback from Justin Herbert," Jones said. "A little different player, different guys."

Herbert has 69 touchdown passes in two seasons after a phenomenal start as a deadly pocket passer with a 97.9 career rating. Fields, meanwhile, has seven TD passes and is better out of the pocket after one season.

"What I'll say about Justin Fields, though, is he really loves the game of football," Jones said. "He has a commanding leadership on the field, a legit field general. He gets guys wound up, gets guys going, stuff like that.

"I feel like the pace of his game has upped since last year. Obviously, first year going into your second year, your speed of the game has excelled a lot. I feel that way personally. I'm really excited about the season he's about to have. Once you've played your first year, you've seen the speed of the game, you've seen how guys are moving, how fast the window closes, you see how fast receivers get open, I'm excited. He's a lot more comfortable now."

The comfort factor is something entirely obvious to Fields' teammates on offense.

"Just the way he commands everybody on the field," tight end Cole Kmet said. "I think we were kinda running two-minute these past couple weeks. He's just been great in terms of being vocal to everybody and being demonstrative about what he wants from everybody.

"It's been fun to be a part of and fun to watch and exciting to keep drawing on this going into training camp."

It's manifested in simple things like calling out plays with authority in the huddle.

"Just when he comes in to enunciate the play or give us what we need to know to get out there and execute the play, it's just a lot more smooth," center Cody Whitehair said. "He says it with more confidence, and I think that's just him developing from Year 1 to Year 2. But we like where Justin is at and we're really excited for the year."

The real comparison Eberflus made indicates progress.

"Yeah, so I could really probably compare this to Dak (Prescott) the most because he was young like this when I was there, as a rookie and then a second-year player and he, we saw him just grow before our eyes," Eberflus said. "And he's a talent, you know he's a guy that can thrown on time but also make extended plays and throw down the field and that's where I see that Justin is.

"And I'm not trying to compare those two players, they're different players. But certainly you can see the jump that we're going to make with Justin and I can see those things as he starts to mature in the offense."

No doubt this is a tough comparison because Prescott had 45 TD passes and only 17 interceptions his first two seasons. He had a phenomenal 23 TDs and four interceptions as a rookie in 2016 with a career-best passer rating of 104.9. 

Fields' career has been exactly the opposite at the start, with 10 interceptions and a 73.2 passer rating.

Eberflus has said he likes Fields' deep passing and sees fundamental improvement since he started working with offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and QB coach Andrew Janocko.

"I would just say that Luke and Andrew are doing a great job with the footwork and the timing," Eberflus said. "That, to me jumps out. You just ask that question, I just ... boom ... right here."

For comparisons to be believable, the Bears will need to see more than footwork, timing and confidence in the huddle.

They'll need to see more results similar to those put out by the two quarterbacks in their comparisons.