Justin Fields admits to flaw that needs to be improved moving forward
CHICAGO – Justin Fields was sacked a league-high 58 times in 2021. Per Football Outsiders, the Bears also finished with a league-worst 9.5% adjusted sack rate. In other words: the pass protection was not good. At all. But sacks and pressures don't always fall on the shoulders of the offensive line. The quarterback can be […]
CHICAGO – Justin Fields was sacked a league-high 58 times in 2021. Per Football Outsiders, the Bears also finished with a league-worst 9.5% adjusted sack rate.
In other words: the pass protection was not good. At all.
But sacks and pressures don't always fall on the shoulders of the offensive line. The quarterback can be responsible, too.
For Justin Fields and the Bears, it was a bit of a problem in 2021. Fields acknowledged as much Tuesday and talked about how to improve moving forward.
"There's stuff on film last year that you can see where there were some instances where it was my fault that I got sacked," Fields told reporters. "At the end of the day, it just comes to limiting those mistakes and getting the ball out and not taking the sacks."
Per Pro Football Focus, Fields generated his own pressure on 13.2% of dropbacks in 2021, which was the 14th-most among quarterbacks with at least 104 allowed pressured dropbacks. The offensive line did him no favors, allowing the ninth-most pressures (87.7%), but Fields was the only quarterback in the top-13 to finish with a double-digit own pressure rate.
Even the best quarterbacks have problems with this. Patrick Mahomes' 22.3% rate led the NFL in 2021 and names like Dak Prescott, Kyler Murray, Lamar Jackson, and Aaron Rodgers all reside in the top-10 of allowed pressure rate by a quarterback.
But that shouldn't cut Fields any slack. All of those offenses have -or had in 2021- the proper skill players to help make up for the negative. The Bears didn't have that in 2021 and as of right now, they don't really have it in 2022, either.
The Bears offensive line remains a rather large question mark heading into 2022, so it needs all the help it can get. Fields avoiding his own pressures/sacks will go a long way in helping not just his front five, but himself, as well.
You can watch Fields' full press conference, below.
Featured image via Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports
