Bears OC Luke Getsy encouraged by Justin Fields’ growth in Year 2
There’s been a lot of speculation about whether the Bears would consider trading quarterback Justin Fields and electing to take a quarterback with the first overall pick.
But Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy seemingly put that to bed — after Albert Breer shared Chicago is sticking with Fields and looking to trade back. Getsy sounded like someone excited to get back to work with his young QB. He praised Fields for his growth in his second season while also noting there’s still improvement to be made.
“I have great confidence in Justin,” Getsy told reporters at the Senior Bowl, via Pro Football Network. “We saw the growth that he had a year ago to where he’s at now. He still has a long way to go as far as where we want him to be and he knows that. Nobody works harder than Justin. The kind of guy he is and the kind of leader he is, I am really excited to see what he is doing this coming season.”
Getsy singled out Fields’ leadership as his biggest area of growth, where he set the standard for his teammates during what proved to be a tough stretch with lots of losing.
“Probably the leadership part of it,” Getsy said. “He came out of his shell and really took command of the team. His confidence grew and all that stuff that’s really important in taking a team where you want to go. Guy put the team on his back for a few weeks there and showed that he’s able to do it. So I think that leadership part of it was really cool for him.”
Last season, the Bears found their offensive identity behind the league’s best run game. Between Fields, David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert, Chicago notched its best rushing season in franchise history with 3,014 yards. Fields, who accounted for 1,143 of those, fell just 64 yards shy of breaking Lamar Jackson’s single-season rushing record.
But the Bears also had the worst passing game in the league. Heading into the second season under Getsy, they need to find more balance on offense. And while Getsy admitted they have room for improvement, he believes they’re headed in the right direction.
“I definitely don’t think I’ve got it figured out, that’s for sure,” Getsy said. “But I think we as a group did a really nice job to put ourselves on a path towards the right direction. We have to grow, we have to be dynamic, we have to evolve even more for us to go where we want to go. We can’t kind of sit still where we are at right now. We are going to use this offseason to get ourselves in a good place so that we can be dynamic when we get to this coming season.”
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