Maybe it’s just me. Or maybe it isn’t. But weren’t Frosted Flakes cereal flakes bigger when I was a kid? Or did things just seem bigger when I was younger? I hope this doesn’t bug me all day. (SPOILER: It will.)
• Firstly, I’m not a golfer. But a bunch of my closest friends are. Recently, one them and I were discussing a Justin Fields-golf comp. The conversation stemmed from something I wrote in 2019 about then-Bears QB Coach Dave Ragone offering up a golf analogy when discussing quarterbacking:
“Does he pick the right club? Does he put enough air under it, or is it too flat? That’s innate things. You have to be able to process that within three seconds to know which type of ball to put out there. … That’s constantly the conversation: ‘Hey, what do you think about that club selection? Is it too much air? Too flat?’”
All that to say we saw Fields use a variety of clubs in Saturday’s preseason game, as highlighted in this 2-minute, 20-second video from Brian Baldinger:
.@ChicagoBears @justnfields makes everything look like a “can of corn”. I thought it was a great debut. Moved the team; put points on the board; helped out his struggling OL; trusted his receivers to go get the ball. It’s called a bundle of talent. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/Q8fh5rPPSn
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) August 15, 2021
• Call it Fields having and using all the clubs. Make reference to him having the ability to take all the shots. Say he was all up in his bag. Or you could even put it as Baldinger does, calling it a bundle of talent. Fields’ tools are loud, and he has plenty to choose from. And soon, we’ll be seeing more of them on display as he gets more reps with the first team offense this week.
• And for the sake of clarification, Adam Jahns (The Athletic) tweets: So far it’s more of the same at Bears practice. Justin Fields still is working with and throwing primarily to the backups and against the backups. In other words, I hope you didn’t get out ahead of your skis when you saw or heard Matt Nagy was giving Fields first-team reps. It will take time to get the ball rolling here. And it will take more time for the Bears to get where fans want them to be with Fields as a starter. But maybe slow and steady wins the race.
• Again, there is a difference between practice reps with the first-team offense and participating in drills. But for what it’s worth, I’d say things are going well in terms of Fields’ time in drills with first-teamers:
Justin Fields just completed his first pass to #Bears WR Allen Robinson.
Matt Nagy said the first-team reps were coming for Fields, and just delivered.
Looking to see more of that as the day progresses.
— Chris Maltby (@ChrisMaltbyBD) August 16, 2021
Fields to Robinson again on an out route.
Throw was on the money. #Bears
— Chris Maltby (@ChrisMaltbyBD) August 16, 2021
#Bears rookie Justin Fields just connected with Darnell Mooney.
The reps with the starters are coming early and often.
— Chris Maltby (@ChrisMaltbyBD) August 16, 2021
• But also, Fields serves a reminder that he is human (or at least trying hard to hide his supernatural being):
Justin Fields with a couple dangerous throws today. One was dropped by a DB early (and was technically ruled a sack), but this latest one was picked off by Teez Tabor.
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) August 16, 2021
• Above all, there is plenty of good reading about Fields out there after Saturday’s performance. Patrick Finley (Sun-Times) has a breakdown of three things learned from Fields’ debut. Colleen Kane (Tribune) offers up insight and analysis on how a slow start turned out to fuel the fires of excitement that came after witnessing that performance. Kevin Fishbain (The Athletic) catches up with Fields’ high school coach and long-time quarterbacks coach to get their perspectives on watching Fields’ first game. So if you have time to get around to it, I’d encourage you to do so.
• The Tribune’s Brad Biggs writes about the promise Fields was showing on Saturday afternoon, which really makes me think I wasn’t out of pocket when thinking about how seeing that display of talent helped push the Bears to sign free agent offensive tackle Jason Peters. Although the transaction still isn’t officially official, but it sounds like the team is already acting like it is.
• Meanwhile, Justin Fields’ throws on the baseball diamond look as good as they do on the football field:
Here’s footage of @justnfields throwing out the first pitch at the @whitesox game with the rest of the @ChicagoBears rookies! @BarroomNetwork @VinnieParise @GBraggsJr23 pic.twitter.com/jlWjmXicrd
— Joe Mandel (@JoeMandel) August 15, 2021
• Take a look at how Fields is gripping that ball:
• Tell me you used to play shortstop, without saying to me you used to play shortstop.
• I’m digging this angle from Jason Lieser (Sun-Times) who notes that Matt Nagy’s offense now has a young core of skill-position players to grow with moving forward. Allen Robinson, Tarik Cohen, David Montgomery, Darnell Mooney, and Cole Kmet are all 27 or younger. And save for Robinson’s obvious exclusion, all are under contract for next season. It will be interesting to see how this group grows around Justin Fields moving forward. And yet, I still can’t shake how Robinson wasn’t re-signed to further bolster this group. Maybe Robinson and Fields will form a bond that pushes the Bears into doing something they should’ve done sometime between January 2020 and July 2021 when the Franchise Tag was officially applied.
• Post-preseason game stock watch with The Athletic’s Adam Jahns is worth your reading eyes this morning.
• Seeing David Montgomery’s placement on this chart is eye-opening:
How often RBs broke tackles as pass-catchers in 2020 per @SportsInfo_SIS. I don't like using elusiveness rating in a vacuum because it's easier to force a missed tackle as a receiver. This chart separates receiving from rushing: pic.twitter.com/WgKzrQfpbU
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) August 16, 2021
• Back to school gear, water bottles, and more are your Deals of the Day at Amazon. #ad
• The first cut is a multi-pronged one in which a trio of players at positions where battles ahead of them are being waged among better players. OL Gage Cervenka, DB Dionte Ruffin, and WR Jester Weah were put on waivers Monday morning. As a reminder, there are multiple waves of roster cuts coming this summer. So let’s stay on our toes to see if there are any fits among any late summer cap casualties or players who don’t make teams due to roster crunches and trims.
• We see you Lil’ Mack:
Ghost move by Khalil Mack’s younger brother, Ledarius Mack pic.twitter.com/YtrV3ivcE2
— Brandon Robinson (@BRobNFL) August 15, 2021
• My one request this preseason is for Khalil and Ladarius to play on one preseason snap together. One Mack on one side of the formation, with the other lining up opposite of his brother. It’s the preseason. And I’m asking for just one snap. Make it happen (for the sake of fun)!
• Bears fans are ruthless:
Andy Dalton just overthrew Damien Williams on a deep ball.
After the pass, someone yelled “Let’s go Mitch!” in reference to former #Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky 😬
— Chris Maltby (@ChrisMaltbyBD) August 16, 2021
• Been looking forward to checking this out:
Braggs In The Stands: Preseason Game 1 Recap – Special Guest – @MarkPotash! #BearDown https://t.co/6Nq1wOmtNE
— Braggs In The Stands (@BraggsInStands) August 15, 2021
• I’ve gotta square up some time to listen to podcasts this afternoon:
🚨New Episode Alert 🚨@BearDown_Report @BrendanSugrue @JwrightBdr @BDRBradley1 and I breakdown Justin Fields debut and the rest of the Bears 20-13 preseason victory over the Miami Dolphins.
Available on all major platforms. https://t.co/SAxE5fTePh
— Ryan Dengel (@RyanDengel) August 15, 2021
• If this is what the NFL doesn’t want to see, and it is going to penalize players for it, then what are we even doing here?
I don’t want to live in a world where this minor level of enthusiasm after steamrolling the entire defense is a 15-yard penalty what’s wrong with you @NFL pic.twitter.com/4kAk3NEkKy
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) August 15, 2021
• Ron Rivera isn’t biting his tongue when it comes to speaking out against misinformation:
Ron Rivera is a real one. https://t.co/RWC3LY9e4f pic.twitter.com/9otescjmPo
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) August 16, 2021