NFL Notes: Justin Fields, Winners, and Losers from Saturday’s Preseason Games

Another day of football is in the books. It was a beautiful Saturday, and it started with a bang. Shortly after Matt and I previewed the Bears and Titans live on BN Bears’ social media feeds, Justin Fields and the Bears gave us plenty of reason to be excited about their first preseason tilt.

Justin Fields and the Bears Were Explosive

Two drives, two touchdowns. It was a quick but explosive day at the office for Justin Fields and the Bears’ first-team offense. On their first possession of the game, Fields hooked up with new pal D.J. Moore for a 62-yard touchdown pass on a screen play.

On the second drive, Fields escaped the Titans pass rush and hooked up with Khalil Herbert for a 56-yard catch and run touchdown.

I saw a lot of this flying around social media yesterday: ‘But all Justin Fields’ did was screen passes!’ Yeah, that’s true, and that’s perfectly fine if you’ve kept up with any Chicago Bears football in recent years.

In Saturday’s BN Bears Live preview, I said a good day for Justin Fields looks like this: don’t get hit, don’t run the ball, processing speed, decision making. Fields checked all of those boxes. He stayed upright, stayed in the pocket until the Herbert touchdown when he was flushed, and processed quickly and made the right decisions. His playmakers did the rest. We probably didn’t see the toss to Herbert last season. Fields likely gets flushed by the pass rush, tucks it, and puts his head down for a scramble. Yesterday, he extended the play with his legs but kept his eyes upfield and found Herbert.

Anyone still not understanding this can take a look at last season’s QB yards after catch leaderboard, which features the league MVP and both starting quarterbacks from the Super Bowl in the top four (among QBs who started at least 15 games):

Best of the Rest

While Fields and the Bears put together some highlight reel-worthy plays, Jacksonville’s Nathan Rourke had the play of the day — probably the preseason — on Saturday Against the Cowboys.

Jacksonville would go on to top the Cowboys 28-23 in Arlington. Rourke threw for 153 yards and a touchdown and posted a 103.3 passer rating during his time in relief of Trevor Lawrence and backup C.J. Beathard. Rourke also had a rushing touchdown. Jaguars rookie running back Tank Bigsby had a solid afternoon, picking up 52 yards on nine carries (5.8 YPC).

A trio of rookie QBs got their first preseason action on Saturday afternoon. Will Levis rotated in and out of the Titans game and finished the day 9-14 for 85 yards, no touchdowns, an interception, and a 51.2 passer rating. Levis was almost picked off a second time by Bears rookie Tyrique Stevenson in the first quarter and was sacked four times by the Bears defense.

Colts rookie Anthony Richardson threw an ugly interception early against the Bills but did an excellent job of getting better every drive afterward. Richardson finished the day 7-12 for 67 yards, an interception, and a 39.2 passer rating. His line would have looked much better had wide receiver Alec Pierce hauled this deep dime in for a touchdown.

Bryce Young also made his preseason debut on Saturday. Young was 4-6 for 21 yards, no scores, and no interceptions in his limited action. Young did take some big hits from Jets defenders looking to test the No. 1 pick’s resilience, and he bounced back up from every one of them.

Extra Points