Ryan Poles, the general manager of the Chicago Bears, held a news conference at Gillette Stadium hours before their game against the New England patriots.
Poles said that he knows that Justin has been a big topic. The progress that is there is encouraging. He is getting better in a lot of different areas, but it is not on the statistics or the paper. We have to continue to play better around him so that he can keep playing well and get his confidence going.
Through the first six games of the season, Fields is ranked near the bottom of the league in most statistical categories. The quarterback's completion percentage, off-target percentage, sack percentage, and pressure percentage are all worse than the first year. He has the second-worst completion percentage and the second-worst intercept percentage.
Poles said he will look at a few different things in his evaluation of Fields.
He is being used. Do we put him in a position where he can succeed? Poles said that the execution and the details of what he's being asked to do and really speeding up the game were some of the things that he was asked to do. Football is dependent on everyone else. We have to improve, and I think we will see that everyone improves, and then we will start to ascend.
Fields was pressured 18 times, a new career high, in Chicago's most recent game against the Washington Commanders. Poles expressed concern over the quarterback being hit as often as he has been this season but did not solely blame the offensive line, noting that there is room for improvement for Fields in getting rid of the ball quicker.
Poles said there was give-and-take on that when you watched the tape. It's a little bit quicker. There are some things that need to be improved. It's aholistic view that needs to be improved for him to remain upright.
Poles was hired by the Bears in January and was in charge of the start of the rebuild. The general manager decided to spend Chicago's top two draft picks on two players who have started every game thus far.
The general manager didn't second-guess his decision to not invest more in the offensive line and receiving corps while praising the Bears' fifth-round pick.
I don't think so. Poles said that he was happy with where he was. He is a young player. For sure there will be ups and downs. These defensive lines are serious. He keeps getting better. There are going to be ups and downs. Lucas has done nice things for the culture of the offensive line. You guys have been talking about how early he got hit, and how he wasn't seen being back. That is better. We are going to keep moving and see if we can get that front to jell.
Poles said that they would always be active regardless of the trade deadline approaching to improve the play around Fields. The short fix isn't always the best option. It's difficult to blend that together because of the discipline involved. That is what we are balancing.
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