Bears' Fields: 'I'm ready to lead this offense'

A lot has changed for Justin Fields after just one year in the NFL.

Fields entered the league last season as a touted quarterback prospect, but the Chicago Bears didn't give him a chance to start straight away. A year later, the signal-caller starts the campaign as his team's main leader.

"Feels good, just having that mindset. It's definitely a different mindset than last year," Fields said Tuesday. "I'm ready to lead this offense and lead this team."

Chicago drafted Fields 11th overall in 2021. The Ohio State product began the campaign backing up Andy Dalton and only logged his first NFL start in Week 3 after Dalton went down with an injury. Fields - who battled injuries of his own throughout the season - was inconsistent as a rookie, tossing only seven touchdowns to 10 interceptions while completing 58.9% of his passes. Chicago went 2-8 with him under center.

"A lot of ups and downs," Fields said of his rookie year. "But I definitely learned a lot, so (I'm) thankful for all the experiences and the stuff we had to go through, (but) the stuff last year is just gonna make me better."

Fields also answered whether he thought the Bears put him in the best position to succeed in 2021.

"I don't know," he said. "At the end of the day, that doesn't matter, you just have to handle what you've got."

The 23-year-old said his understanding of what it takes to be an NFL quarterback has changed "a lot" in 2022.

"I just have more knowledge now, and going through a whole season, you learn a lot of things and start incorporating things into your routine to make you a better football player," he said.

The Bears recently signed wide receivers Equanimeous St. Brown and Byron Pringle, who'll join a receiving corps headlined by Darnell Mooney.

Chicago also went through significant changes off the field, hiring head coach Matt Eberflus to replace Matt Nagy. Eberflus brought a new coaching staff with him - one that includes first-year offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.

Getsy has already been working on changing Fields' dropback approach while in the shotgun.

"Last year, I had my right foot forward in the gun, so I've been working a lot on having my left foot forward in the gun," Fields explained.