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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Alyssa Barbieri

Fields Focus: Breaking down Justin Fields on Day 1 of Bears training camp

The Chicago Bears hit the practice field for the first time on Wednesday for their first (private) workout of the summer, and there was plenty to digest from Day 1.

Justin Fields is entering a pivotal third season, where the expectation is he’ll have a breakout season following some big offseason additions, including wide receiver DJ Moore. After emerging as an elite rusher last season, Fields needs to make strides as a passer. Luckily, Fields has consistency for the first time in his NFL career as he’ll play his second year in Luke Getsy’s offense.

We’re taking a look at the good, the bad and the noteworthy with Fields from the first practice of Bears training camp:

The Good

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Justin Fields got off to a hot start during the first practice of training camp, where his passing prowess was on display. Fields’ best play was a deep touchdown pass to DJ Moore during team drills. But it was far from his only highlight.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus praised Fields for some nice throws in practice, including the Moore deep ball, a touchdown to Chase Claypool and a completion to Equanimeous St. Brown, among others.

“Saw some real nice throws out there from Justin,” Eberflus said. “…He connected with pretty much everyone. So, real good there in terms of the rhythm and timing of that looked good for the first day. You can tell they’ve been working together a little bit in the offseason together.”

The Bad

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There wasn’t anything to criticize from reports coming out of Wednesday’s practice. According to CHGO’s Adam Hoge, there were “very few balls on the ground” for Fields.

In fact, Eberflus was impressed with the lack of mistakes and how smooth things were for the offense, considering it was the first day.

“I thought the operation on offense was good for the first day,” he said. “… The operation in terms of the alignment, assignment and your technique looked pretty good for the first day.”

The Noteworthy

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

The connection between Fields and Moore was the talk of the offseason program, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that it was on display during the first practice of training camp.

The 1-2 punch had the play of the day, according to multiple media members. Fields connected with Moore down the right sideline, with rookie Tyrique Stevenson in coverage, for a touchdown during team drills.

The Bears released the highlight, where you can see the perfect ball placement from Fields as Moore hauled in the catch against Stevenson, who actually had good coverage.

That’s sure the first of many impressive Fields-to-Moore connections to come during training camp — and the 2023 season.

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