Justin Fields is in the midst of an important final stretch of games, where he’s looking to show he can still be the Bears’ franchise quarterback.
Fields has made strides this season since returning from his thumb injury, and he’s certainly making this upcoming decision difficult for general manager Ryan Poles.
For head coach Matt Eberflus, he’s noticed significant improvement in Fields’ ball security. In his last five starts, Fields has thrown just one interception — and he hasn’t thrown a pick in the past three games.
“Taking care of the football, in terms of interceptions, that’s been good as of late,” Eberflus said. “A perfect game for a quarterback is zero turnovers. That gives us a chance to win the game. Just continuing to do that.”
While Fields has cleaned up the interceptions, he understands that he needs to do a better job of protecting the ball while it’s in his hands. Fields has committed three fumbles in the past three games, including two against the Vikings in a prime-time matchup in Week 12. For Fields his goal is simple: Protect the football.
“Just trying to make the best decisions I can — we preach no turnovers,” Fields said. “So just trying to do my job as the quarterback of this team and of course I have to continue with the no interceptions, but also clean up the fumbles.
“That’s just the No. 1 priority on offense, is taking care of the ball because we know if we don’t do that, we don’t have a chance to score … making sure ball security is at a premium.”
That will be a focal point in Sunday’s game against a dominant Browns defense, featuring game-wrecker Myles Garrett, that will try to force Fields into mistakes.
