Video: Justin Fields, Bears OC Luke Getsy Hug at Practice After QB's Comments

Justin Fields and Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy were seen hugging at Thursday's practice, a day after the quarterback told reporters his play had become "robotic" and suggested that focusing on coaching points rather than playing freely was a contributing factor.

"At the end of the day, they are doing their job when they are giving me what to look at, but at the end of the day, I can't be thinking about that when the game comes," Fields said Wednesday regarding the coaches when asked about his struggles. "I prepare myself throughout the week, and then when the game comes, it's time to play free at that point. Thinking less and playing more."

He later clarified that he wasn't blaming the coaches for his struggles.

Fields' comments had appeared to more a commentary on thinking less during the game and reacting to what he had been seeing, and less about the coaches leading him astray:

"I don't think it's too many coaching voices, but I just think when you're fed a lot of information at a point in time and you're trying to think about that info when you're playing, it doesn't let you play like yourself. You're trying to process so much information to where it's like, if I just simplify it in my mind, I would have did this. I saw a few plays on Sunday, if I was playing like my old self, we would have had a positive play. There would have been more third-down [conversions]. I think that's just the biggest thing for me is playing the game how I know how to play and how I've been playing my whole life. That's what I got to get back to doing."

Nonetheless, he clarified later that he wasn't attempting to put the blame on anybody but himself.

"I'm not blaming anything on the coaches; I'm never going to blame anything on the coaches; I'm never going to blame anything on my teammates," he said. "Whatever happens in a game, I will take all the blame. I don't care. If it's a dropped pass, it should have been a pass, put it on me."

Head coach Matt Eberflus said that the Bears also wanted Fields to play "free" and wanted him to find the "balance between, 'Hey, going through my progressions,' but also having the ability to say, 'Hey, I feel these things happening. Now I'm going to play instinctual.'"

General manager Ryan Poles defended Fields on Thursday.

"No one in our entire building, none of our coaches see Fields as a finger pointer at all," he told reporters.

Poles added that he thought Fields took "ownership" of what he needed to do to improve as a quarterback and that "no one took it personally" in the organization.

Getsy, meanwhile, said he wasn't surprised by the third-year quarterback's comments.

"I think as we talk about his evolution, he's becoming an NFL quarterback and I think that part of it, that experience and that style of play, I think he was... there's a few plays in the game that he wishes he had different reactions," he said. "He refers to them as instincts, let his instincts take over, right? And that is real. ... He has special talent. He has special instincts."

That hasn't translated to success thus far in the 2023 season, however, after Fields emerged as one of the NFL's most electrifying players last year, rushing for 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns. While his development as a passer has lagged behind his rushing skills, he made the Bears' offense far more dynamic in 2022 with his ability to break the pocket.

Thus far in 2023, however, he's thrown for just 427 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, taking 10 sacks already while completing just 60.6 percent of his passes. He's also rushed for just 62 yards and a score.

A major concern in Chicago is that the Bears are now just 5-22 in his starts. Much of that also comes down to the roster around him, but the Fields' era to this point has delivered more question marks than answers.