Justin Fields' Wednesday comments regarding his coaches raised an eyebrow or two in the football world.
The Bears quarterback didn't wait long to attempt to control whatever minor damage his quotes might have caused. After saying his coaching staff might be feeding him too much information in attempting to explain his "robotic" feeling on the field through two weeks, Fields held a second media session -- this time in the locker room -- following the Bears' midweek practice and took aim at media members covering Chicago's football team.
"You guys' jobs are to get clicks. So, it's like, take my quote out of context and we can just say that," Fields said. "If you paint the picture on the inside out, y'all are trying to split us up.
"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. Whatever happens in the game, I will take all the blame. I don't care if it's a dropped pass, it should have been a (better) pass. Put it on me. Never when you hear anything come out of my mouth to where I will blame it on somebody else in this organization, my teammates, never will you hear that. I just want to clear that up.
"Just know that I need to play better -- that's it, point blank. That's what I should have said in the first place, but I was trying to give y'all more details because I appreciate y'all for doing what y'all do and I try to give y'all the information y'all want for you guys' job. I'm going to do that and in the future I just ask you guys to put the whole quote out. Don't cut it up into words and pieces to make it seem like I am saying something that I'm not."
Fields initially told reporters during his standard Wednesday news conference that he needed to be able to play freer.
"My goal this week is to say, 'eff it' and go out there and play football how I know how to play football," Fields said. "That includes thinking less and just going out there and playing off of instincts, rather than say so much info in my head and data in my head, and clearly just going out there and playing football. …That's when I play my best is when I'm out there playing free and being myself. So I'm going to say kind of bump all the what I should, this and that, like pocket stuff. I'm going to go out there and be me."
Fields' earlier comments certainly weren't incendiary. If anything, they were refreshingly candid, but they did create room for a bit of controversy. After an 0-2 start, the Bears are undoubtedly searching for answers, and any suggestion of discord between player and coach will certainly fuel the flames of concern.
Head coach Matt Eberflus was also rather blunt in response to Fields' comments, acknowledging the staff and Fields all wanted the same thing: for Fields to play with his instincts, not with too much brain strain. Neither pointed to an internal conflict, which is important to note.
Still, a second media session to clarify relatively innocuous comments isn't a good sign. It's only Week 3, and a ton of time remains to turn things around. But taking an adversarial approach with the media before October doesn't suggest brighter days are waiting around the corner. The pressure is clearly mounting rather quickly; it will be up to Fields, Eberflus and the rest of the Bears to regain control of their narrative before it spirals.
