Ninety seconds into his postgame information convention Sunday evening at Lambeau Subject, Justin Fields was thrown a slow-breaking curveball, one he wasn’t fairly ready for as he digested the Chicago Bears’ 27-10 loss to the Inexperienced Bay Packers.
Reporter: Dropping in opposition to this crew, does it sting extra due to the rivalry and you know the way a lot Bears followers wish to win this recreation?
Fields: Yeah. I imply, it hurts extra within the locker room than for the Bears followers. On the finish of the day, they’re not placing in any work. I see the fellows within the locker room every single day. I see how a lot work they put in. So simply popping out with a disappointing loss like this, it hurts. Now we simply have to reply.
Appeared innocuous. Fairly innocent. Sufficient in order that Fields didn’t obtain a single follow-up query about it. His postgame Q&A session continued with a question about what's lacking within the Bears passing recreation.
Fields was merely attempting to precise that no fan may care extra in regards to the Bears profitable than he did. Thus it might be unattainable for Sunday evening’s consequence to sting extra after one other loss in certainly one of soccer’s most storied rivalries.
Little did the second-year quarterback notice he had inadvertently kicked a hornet’s nest, disturbing a swarm of long-suffering Bears followers who felt their quarterback took a dig at them.
They got here out buzzing. On social media, Fields was lambasted for having the audacity to name out followers. On sports activities discuss radio, there was passionate debate about whether or not Fields had earned the stature to take even a passing jab at followers.
The hullabaloo intensified. Fields felt the sting. Within the made-for-meme world of 2022, his feedback have been lifted and packaged in a handful of social media posts that amplified — or possibly manufactured is the higher verb — a mini-controversy.
Fields cited a tweet from Barstool Sports activities that included a video of his feedback and concluded that “Bears followers may not like this one from Justin Fields.” As of Wednesday afternoon, that put up had greater than 1,100 retweets, 2,400 quote tweets and 26,200 likes.
Throughout his common weekly session on the Halas Corridor dais Wednesday, Fields provided a prolonged apology and clarification.
“First off, I used to be pissed off after the sport,” he defined. “Primary, I didn’t wish to discuss to (reporters). I wasn’t within the temper to come back and discuss. … So I ought to’ve completed a greater job of explaining what I meant by that.”
And?
“What I meant by that's I’m speaking about work (that was put in) concerning the sport on Sunday and profitable the sport. I don’t know any followers. I don’t know what they’re doing of their private lives. I respect each fan we now have. I’m glad that we now have followers. I'd by no means disrespect anyone on what they do or what they like to do. And it got here off like that.”
Let’s be actual right here: Fields’ apology was as pointless because it was honest. Those that reacted with vitriol and effervescent outrage to his postgame feedback most likely ought to provide themselves up with a facet of pasta and a few grated Parmesan down on Taylor Road.
I requested Fields how he turned conscious of the backlash. He smiled.
“I used to be getting tagged in a bunch of stuff (on social media),” he stated. “The followers positively let me know, for certain. Once more, I didn’t imply it to come back off like that.”
I additionally puzzled how Fields was studying to deal with a few of these sudden annoyances that can proceed popping up given his position because the face of one of many NFL’s constitution franchises.
Along with finding out the intricacies of defenses, Fields additionally has the duty of turning into a clean public speaker and a accountable voice for the Bears.
“I talked to my dad about it,” he stated Wednesday. “And so long as I’m going to be on this place, there’s all the time going to be stuff like that that pops up. (It’s) simply realizing that so long as I’m on this occupation, it’s actually by no means going to go away. So I simply need to both be actually clear with the whole lot I say and be actually descriptive of what I actually imply or simply not say something.”
Chicago ought to hope Fields opts for the previous. A sputtering franchise can sick afford to turn into boring too.
Let’s not get it twisted. Fields has a lot larger fish to fry — specifically awakening a somnambulant passing assault that has produced an NFL-worst 153 yards via two video games. So the 190 seconds he spent Wednesday performing injury management for his postgame feedback have been about 175 too many.
Nonetheless, give him credit score. At 23, his contrition was a showcase of grace and maturity combined with an acknowledgment that he’s younger and studying — throughout so many phases of his QB1 job.
Fields’ place in Chicago finally can be outlined by how he develops his pocket poise, how he processes what he’s seeing from defenses and what number of large performs and signature wins he produces.
However he additionally realizes he’s sitting on a golden alternative to win over a passionate sports activities metropolis. And he doesn’t take that without any consideration.
For now, Fields stated, he’s attempting to stability being candid and colourful with out creating commotion.
“Simply form of testing the waters,” Fields stated. “I wish to present you guys extra persona. I don’t wish to be a robotic up right here. On the identical time, I simply need to be extra descriptive with my phrases. … I attempt to present my persona to the world and attempt to present my persona to you guys, to indicate that I'm an actual individual. And, sure, I do make errors.”
Some can be large, game-changing errors on the sphere. Some can be annoying little missteps away from it. All of them will push Fields to develop.
The deep agitation Fields felt after Sunday’s loss in Inexperienced Bay needs to be one thing Bears followers admire. Of Fields’ 9 defeats because the Bears beginning quarterback, he stated one thing about Sunday’s “hit totally different than all of the losses final 12 months.”
He is aware of how a lot funding Bears gamers are placing into the grind to assist change a stumbling franchise’s fortunes. And when that work isn’t backed by outcomes, it’s deeply aggravating. Particularly in opposition to the Packers.
“I simply hate shedding,” Fields stated.
On that, the quarterback and Bears followers share comparable feelings. The subsequent step, in fact, is for Fields to make fast enhancements to alter these outcomes. However he additionally shouldn’t be below siege or placed on the defensive merely for expressing frustration clumsily 40 minutes after a tough loss.
His apology Wednesday was real and appreciated. It additionally wasn’t mandatory.
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