So much of Fields’ evaluation at least this early in his career will be about what he does before the ball is even snapped.
“You start with the cadence, you start with the huddle,” DeFilippo said. “You start with knowing your first wide vision, which is everything that you have before you get the ball in your hand. Play clock. Are we lined up correctly? What’s the cadence? Is there a kill with the play?”
Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor will look for what he calls basic quarterback intangibles: leadership, communication, a sense of urgency and, yes, his personality in the huddle.
Paul Vernon, AP Photos
It will be apparent when it’s time to start quarterback Justin Fields whenever that may be Bears quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo said.
“Like [head coach Matt Nagy] said, I think we’ll all know when it’s Justin’s time to go win a football game,” he said Wednesday morning. “I’m a big believer in that as well.”
The Bears have declared Andy Dalton the starter and said that, in a perfect world, Fields can spend the 2021 season as an understudy the way the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes did under Nagy in 2017.
DeFilippo has been meeting with Fields on Zoom, and will get to work with him on the field Friday for the first time. Fields thus far has been “very coachable,” DeFilippo said.
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Police reform advocates are mobilizing behind the scenes to stop Mayor Lori Lightfoot from appointing the chief operating officer of the Public Building Commission to run Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
Lori Lypson’s only experience in investigating police wrongdoing was more than 20 years ago when she spent a year as supervising investigator for the Chicago Police Department’s Office of Professional Standards.
The chief administrator of OPS at that time? Lori Lightfoot.
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Wondering about a player, a past game or another issue involving the Bears? Senior writer Larry Mayer answers a variety of questions from fans on ChicagoBears.com.
Interesting to see the Bears opening against the Rams. How did they fare over the years against Matthew Stafford when he played for the Lions?
Matthew C.
Rockford, Illinois
The Bears are 9-11 all-time against Matthew Stafford, who has completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 5,440 yards with 32 touchdowns, 23 interceptions and an 86.3 passer rating against them. That s actually fewer TDs and more interceptions than Stafford has in the same number of games versus the Green Bay Packers (37 and 20, respectively). He also has a better career passer rating against both the Packers (89.9) and the Minnesota Vikings (89.5) than he does versus the Bears.
The Chicago Bears’ desire to upgrade at quarterback this offseason was the football world’s worst-kept secret …. But their hankering to move Nick Foles might’ve been a close second.
NFL insider Adam Caplan tells radio talk-show host Scott Ferrall the Bears were trying to trade Foles throughout the offseason. But because no team had interest in Foles, a deal never came to fruition. Remember, it takes two to tango. And one side simply can’t force a trade upon another team. That’s just not how any of this works.
Trade rumors followed Foles over the winter and spring. There was buzz about the Broncos as a destination as early as January. Philly made sense as a fit for nudging Jalen Hurts along his development curve. But Foles’ contract (and lack of production in 2020) evidently scared off any (and all) suitors. Because, even after the Bears paid Foles’ bonus, there was nowhere for him to go. The game of musical chairs ended with Foles back where he started.