Ahead of the full NFL schedule release on Thursday, some media members and insiders are predicting a breakout season for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields. Selected 11th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft by the Bears, Fields just completed his second season in the league. ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky has predicted for the second consecutive year that Fields will be in the conversation for the Most Valuable Player award.
The ascertainment bothered ESPN 1000’s Jonathan Hood on Wednesday morning and led to a discussion as to whether national media members are fomenting pressure and engendering athletes to fail.
“I listen and watch Get Up and First Take and all the different pundits talking about Justin Fields,” Hood said on Kap & J. Hood. “When you hear people say, ‘Well, Justin Fields – that’s the next dynamic quarterback. He’s going to be Jalen Hurts.’ It’s kind of like, ‘Well, wait a second;. Hold on a second.’ If the Bears are taking it one step at a time, why can’t we?”
While Fields has reportedly told members of the Bears coaching staff that he will be considerably better coming into the 2023 season, the organization and its fans hope to compile a better win-loss record following a 3-14 last-place finish in 2022. It is true that the Bears made acquisitions to improve parts of their team perceived as weak last year, including the offensive line and receiving core. The aspect of this situation that perturbs Hood is the reaction towards the Bears following a piecemeal approach to gradually improve and become a legitimate contender again.
“There’s this penchant to be able to be first, so you’ve got to be able to put your heart out there,” Hood explained. “If the Bears have seven wins and Justin’s okay, [they’ll say], ‘Oh, Justin sucks.’ There’s no middle ground with this.”
Courtney Cronin joined Jonathan Hood on the morning program filling in for David Kaplan. She agreed that it is more important to focus on if the Bears are better than if Fields is in the discussion for the accolade of most valuable player.
“It’s unfair to put him in the conversation last year,” Cronin said. “….I think it does Justin Fields a disservice when he’s being thrown into that conversation – a conversation he’s not ready to be a part of yet.”
