{"id":18526,"date":"2024-01-08T13:24:06","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T10:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/18526\/justin-fields-with-bears-future\/"},"modified":"2024-01-08T13:24:07","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T10:24:07","slug":"justin-fields-with-bears-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/?p=18526","title":{"rendered":"Justin Fields, with Bears future uncertain, says &#8216;I gave it my all&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Justin Fields, with Bears future uncertain, says &#8216;I gave it my all&#8217;\u060c<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<ul class=\"authors\">\n<li class=\"mugshot-shown\">\n<div class=\"author-img\"><\/div>\n<p>Courtney Cronin, ESPN editor<span class=\"timestamp \">January 8, 2024, 04:19<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-overlay\">Close<\/p>\n<ul>Courtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, initially covering the Minnesota Vikings before moving to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/week\/\"   title=\"Week\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">Week<\/a> Ever on ESPN Radio.  She also co-hosts The Chicago Bears podcast on ESPN 1000. She previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News as a multimedia sports reporter.<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>GREEN BAY, Wis. \u2014 Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields isn&#39;t sure what the future holds after 38 career starts in three seasons \u2014 specifically, whether he&#39;ll be back under center in 2024 for the franchise which enters the offseason with the No. 1 Pick.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis decision is not in my hands,\u201d Fields said.  &#8220;All I can control is what I did. I gave it my all. Whether it was here or not, I have no regrets.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In case Sunday&#39;s 17-9 loss to the Green Bay Packers was Fields&#39; final game with the Bears, the quarterback proactively bid farewell to the team that drafted him 11th overall general in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo the city of Chicago, I love you all,\u201d he said.  \u201cI appreciate the fans and the support of all the Bears, you know, and in case this is my last rodeo with you all, thank you for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Bears own the top pick in the draft for a second straight year and will decide in the coming months whether to stick with Fields or use the No. 1 pick on a rookie quarterback.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline editorial float-r\" data-behavior=\"article_related\">\n<h2 class=\"editorial-title\">Editor&#39;s Choice<\/h2>\n<p>2 Related<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cWe&#39;re working from a position of strength and we&#39;re just going to continue to keep an open mind and look at all options,\u201d general manager Ryan Poles said on ESPN 1000 Sunday afternoon.  \u201cI\u2019m excited about this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The loss at Lambeau Field marked Chicago&#39;s 11th straight loss to its oldest rival.  Fields has never beaten the Packers since becoming the Bears&#39; starting quarterback three years ago and finished the season with 11 completions for 148 yards against a Green Bay team that used Chicago to punch its ticket for the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Injuries have played a role in the offense&#39;s struggles.  The Bears were without starting center Lucas Patrick, who was placed on injured reserve over the weekend, and lost right guard Nate Davis in the first half.  Fields was pressured on 50% of his dropbacks (12 of 24) where he completed 2 of 5 passes for 43 yards and took 5 sacks.  It was his second-lowest passing output of the season, excluding the Week 6 loss to Minnesota, where he left early due to a thumb injury.<\/p>\n<p>Chicago&#39;s offense struggled to maintain the momentum it built at home on the road, including on a freezing Lambeau Field.  The Bears&#39; only points at Green Bay came from kicker Cairo Santos, who set the franchise&#39;s single-season record for field goals with 35. The Bears scored just one combined offensive touchdown in of their last three games on the road.<\/p>\n<p>DJ Moore, Chicago&#39;s marquee acquisition who arrived via Carolina in a trade for last year&#39;s No. 1 pick, finished with a team-high 4 catches for 64 yards.  The wide receiver elevated the Bears&#39; offense into a career-best season, but as Chicago begins to evaluate the shortcomings of its offense, including the future of offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, the passing offense leaves much to be desired.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously, when you look at the numbers, I would say that\u2019s not the case. [improve enough] because we&#39;re in the bottom third of the league,&#8221; coach Matt Eberflus said. &#8220;I think 27 was the last time.  So obviously it has to improve.  The passing offense runs through our talented players, right?  Who is Cole [Kmet].  Cole had a very good season, as did DJ.  So we&#39;re definitely excited about that, and we got some good shots on the court from Justin.  He&#39;s built a good relationship with DJ and Cole this year, and we need to continue to improve that.  \u00bb<\/p>\n<p>Fields will bring what he called a &#8220;huge&#8221; improvement in his Week 11 return from injury into the offseason as he awaits the Bears&#39; decision at quarterback.  Players will meet with Pole and Eberflus on Monday for 10-minute exit interviews starting at 7 a.m. CT.<\/p>\n<p>Fields said it would \u201cmean a lot\u201d if the Bears chose to stick with him for a fourth season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have a pretty good relationship with Ryan and the guys upstairs,\u201d the quarterback said.  &#8220;At the end of the day, it&#39;s a business. They have to make tough decisions. My job is just to go out there and play my best. It would mean a lot to get that confirmation from them and send really a message. message that they trust me to lead this team and be the quarterback.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, no decision has yet been made regarding the future of Eberflus.  The Bears coach said he would meet with owners midweek, but did not say whether he had received assurances about his employment status beyond the 2023 season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know the groundwork has been laid, the standards are set for how we operate,\u201d Eberflus said.  &#8220;I know that. And I know the locker room. &#8230; And we&#39;re on solid ground. Hard work, passion for the game and enthusiasm for the game, and we&#39;re just going to continue to work together to build this thing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Bears won five of their final eight games and more than doubled their <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/win\/\"   title=\"win\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">win<\/a> total from Eberflus&#39; first season to finish with a 7-10 record.  Before Chicago makes its decision on Fields, Poles and team president\/CEO Kevin Warren will have to decide whether Eberflus will stay or go.<\/p>\n<p>As he had this season, the Poles offered Eberflus a vote of confidence during his pre-match radio interview on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou can go back to the original press conference and the things I was looking for,\u201d Polonais said.  &#8220;One is the leadership, the mental toughness and the steady hand to really steer the ship when the seas are rough, and they have been rough at times. Last year, early this year, there&#39;s certainly had a sudden change and he was stable at \u201cHe fought to get out of the water and get things to where they were.  His ability to adapt and adjust, to really take player input into account to get things on the right track, was incredible where I think a lot of people would have been &#8220;He was in really bad shape and crumbled under pressure. He got better under pressure, just like our <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/tag\/football\/\"   title=\"football\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">football<\/a> team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Justin Fields, with Bears future uncertain, says &#8216;I gave it my all&#8217;\u060c Courtney Cronin, ESPN editorJanuary 8, 2024, 04:19 Close Courtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, initially covering the Minnesota Vikings before moving to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18527,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4275,3104,53,5365,1413,8834],"class_list":["post-18526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","tag-bears","tag-fields","tag-future","tag-gave","tag-justin","tag-uncertain"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18526"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18528,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18526\/revisions\/18528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wikidollar.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}