{"id":137326,"date":"2023-01-02T14:30:04","date_gmt":"2023-01-02T19:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=137326"},"modified":"2023-01-02T15:21:44","modified_gmt":"2023-01-02T20:21:44","slug":"bears-justin-fields-clears-air-matt-eberflus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/01\/02\/bears-justin-fields-clears-air-matt-eberflus\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Fields Made Key Decision in Bears\u2019 Demoralizing Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s not how you start, it\u2019s how you finish. And the Chicago Bears finished early, seemingly, before the game was all the way over on some plays. But, there was second-year quarterback <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022\/12\/20\/bears-matt-eberflus-justin-fields-ryan-poles\/\" target=\"_self\">Justin Fields<\/a>, sticking it out to the bitter end. The Bears\u2019 41-10 loss to the Detroit Lions sunk the franchise to a new low this season for several reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Most importantly, it showcased a coaching staff that was willing to submit its hobbled franchise quarterback to punishment. The Bears&#8217; offensive line had no answers for a previously limp Lions pass rush contributing to the seven sacks Fields took on the day.<\/p>\n<p>He now leads the league with 54 sacks taken this season, the most since <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022\/08\/18\/nfl-suspends-deshaun-watson-11-games-with-5-million-fine\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Deshaun Watson<\/a> was taken down 62 times in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the obvious risks compared to the faint reward, seeing Fields wasn\u2019t surprising.<\/p>\n<h2>Bears QB Justin Fields Clears Air On Controversial Decision<\/h2>\n<h3>Leaders Don\u2019t Quit<\/h3>\n<p>Fields had a rough outing. He completed just seven of his 21 passes for 75 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception. In what was arguably his worst game of the season. His passing yards were his lowest since Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers. His 40 quarterback rating is his second-worst ahead of his Week 3 versus the Houston Texans.<\/p>\n<p>The second-year passer&#8217;s previous season-low completion percentage was 47% which he has hit twice this year; he completed just 33.3% on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>Still, there was no way he wasn\u2019t going to finish out the game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAny time I get to play this game, I don\u2019t take it for granted,\u201d a visibly at-ease Fields said in his <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChicagoBears\/status\/1609669921398718465\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">postgame media availability<\/a>. Any time I get to be out there no matter who it\u2019s with. And, the fact that I know my guys are fighting for me, they know I\u2019m fighting for them, that\u2019s all the motivation I need.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This man is unreal.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcfa: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CHIvsDET?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#CHIvsDET<\/a> on FOX <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JEBTIfPvL9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/JEBTIfPvL9<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChicagoBears\/status\/1609617903120449549?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 1, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Fields said there was a \u201cfull desire\u201d to play. This echoed sentiments shared by head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022\/11\/22\/bears-albert-breer-matt-eberflus-justin-fields\/\" target=\"_self\">Matt Eberflus<\/a> in his postgame presser, just in case he was unclear.<\/p>\n<p>Eberflus said that the coaches believe that there is no matching the value of \u201clive experience\u201d from in-game reps. But he also seemed to suggest that the decision ultimately came down to Fields.<\/p>\n<p>And, again, there was no way he wasn\u2019t going to finish the game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo be honest with you, I don\u2019t care what the scoreboard is,\u201d Fields said. \u201cIf I have the chance to go out there and play, I\u2019m [going to] do it every time. And I\u2019m [going to] play my hardest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The day started out just fine with Field rushing for 105 yards in the first quarter alone. He finished with \u201cjust\u201d 132 yards on the ground after Detroit adjusted and the Bears failed to come up with a counterpunch. The Lions rattled off 34 unanswered points while Fields could be seen receiving treatment and grimacing amid getting hit on over 42% of his dropbacks.<\/p>\n<p>Drive after drive, though, he came back onto the field until the clock read all zeros.<\/p>\n<h3>On The Side<\/h3>\n<p>Fields\u2019 toughness hasn\u2019t been in question for weeks but was just one of the latest signs of leadership. He also had a moment with wide receiver <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022\/12\/18\/bears-justin-fields-teammates\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Chase Claypool<\/a> who was visibly upset on the sidelines at one point amid what was a targetless afternoon up to then.<\/p>\n<p>Claypool finished with just one target, his fewest of the entire season including his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers which had him seeking a change.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">So about Chase Claypool&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6EV7TZbjin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/6EV7TZbjin<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bears on CHSN (@CHSN_Bears) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CHSN_Bears\/status\/1609673522812526592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 1, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a passionate player, he\u2019s passionate about the game,\u201d Fields said confirming Clayool\u2019s frustration. \u201cBut I think\u2026he was just showing his emotions. It\u2019s great to have emotions in the game but you just have to know how to control it. And you can\u2019t let it come out like that because, at the end of the day, that\u2019s not helping anybody. That\u2019s not helping the team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fields went on to say that everybody was frustrated as they were getting blown out which, in a way, seemed to add to his desire to keep coming back.<\/p>\n<p>He also added that he and Claypool will be sure to get extra work in together this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"hbwC3H86R_BDjpBJai8UgQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1245930585\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'hbwC3H86R_BDjpBJai8UgQ',sig:'wbzb8dPPor7PjML3XEY2rNrRvB5PQS0MbvCQbrRRJYc=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1245930585',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Justin Fields spoke out about the Chicago Bears&#8217; controversial decision to keep him in during Sunday&#8217;s blowout loss to the Lions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2879,"featured_media":137331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[7657,6192,7544,6990,8851],"class_list":["post-137326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","tag-bears-featured","tag-chase-claypool","tag-chicago-bears-roster","tag-justin-fields","tag-matt-eberflus"],"modified_by":"Josh Buckhalter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2879"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}