Bears 'Encouraged' by Justin Fields' Development, GM Ryan Poles Says

The Chicago Bears haven't given their fans much to cheer for during a 2-4 start this season, but general manager Ryan Poles isn't giving up on the team's young quarterback.

"I know Justin [Fields] has been a big topic and his development," Poles told reporters Monday. "And we're encouraged with the progress that is there. It's not on the statistics and on the paper all the time, but he is getting better in a lot of different areas. I think as a whole, we've got to continue to play better around him as well to allow him to keep playing well and get his confidence going and execute at a high level."

While Fields has shown flashes of his potential at times, especially with his ability to make plays with his legs, the statistics don't tell a pretty story.

He entered Monday's game against the New England Patriots completing 54.8 percent of his passes for 869 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions. On the positive side, he ran for 282 yards and one score through those first six games.

The Ohio State product also isn't working with much in terms of talent around him.

Darnell Mooney—who failed to haul in a potential game-winning touchdown pass on the final offensive play of the most recent loss to the Washington Commanders—is talented but far from a dominant No. 1 wide receiver.

Meanwhile, the secondary pass-catchers are a group of journeymen that includes Cole Kmet, Dante Pettis, Equanimeous St. Brown, Byron Pringle, N'Keal Harry and Velus Jones Jr.

What's more, the offensive line allowed pressure on 46 percent of Fields' dropbacks through the first six games, per ESPN Stats & Info. That was the highest rate of pressure for the first six games of a season since such tracking started in 2009.

"How he's being used? Are we putting him in the position where he can be successful? And then the execution and the details of what he's being asked to do and really speeding up to the game and making decisions quicker," Poles said when discussing different ways to evaluate Fields.

"But again, the beautiful thing about football, it's reliant on everybody else. As a whole, we have to improve, and I think we'll see that everyone starts to get better, and then we'll start to ascend."

Chicago is not a realistic contender this season but does have the most cap space in the NFL for next offseason, per Over The Cap.

If Fields shows signs that he is the franchise quarterback the Bears have long been looking for as the rest of the 2022 campaign plays out, they could use some of that cap space to add more weapons around the signal-caller and perhaps compete in the NFC North as soon as next season.