A Brief Look at Justin Fields’ New Mechanics

I want to preface this by saying I am #NotAScout, but that doesn’t make me any less interested in exploring the mechanical changes Justin Fields was hinting at on Wednesday.

ICYMI:

The Chicago Bears, as a franchise, are notoriously prickly when it comes to social media sharing. I’m not here to have that particular discussion right now. To each their own, and what not. However, a video the team’s Twitter page posted on Tuesday night put the gears in motion and sent me on my journey toward finding out what the changes in Fields’ footwork actually looks like.

Again, I’ll remind you I’m #NotAScout. But we still need to discuss the tweaks:

Here is how Fields explained the change, via NBC Sports Chicago’s Alex Shapiro:

“One big thing was changing my drop,” Fields said. “Last year I had my right foot forward in the gun so I’ve been working a lot on having my left foot forward in the gun… it’s just what they do in their offense. It times it better with the routes and stuff like that so that’s why we do it.”

It feels so insignificant, the magnitude of this mechanical change. If you didn’t know any better, you probably wouldn’t know the difference unless someone brought it up. But this is the NFL we’re talking about and we know all too well that little things add up. So, what might seem like a small tweak now, could be something that pays off in a big way later. Building that muscle memory now should go a long way toward creating a natural movement by the time the season kicks off in April. Timing is everything, both in life and in football.

There is one clip that caught my eye (and others, too) and needed additional context:

This is gonna take some time, to be sure. No one who undergoes any mechanical changes gets everything squared away after one minicamp practice in April. But at this stage of the game, anything done to get Fields quicker into his throwing motion feels like an improvement. The quicker the ball gets out, the quicker it gets to Darnell Mooney and friends. Do that enough times, and it won’t take long to get to pay dirt. Ultimately, that’s what Fields, the Bears, and their fans want to see. Maybe we’ll be more likely to see it as a result of improved mechanics.

Fields’ release point and timing has been a point of contention dating back to when he was a prospect coming out of Ohio State. So the Fields and the Bears getting to a place where his mechanics firm up to the point where his throwing motion is better and more efficient, then I imagine the process to getting there will have been a success. And, to me, that is a net win all around.

written by

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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