New Chicago Bears center Lucas Patrick — already a Justin Fields fan — plans ‘to keep him as clean as possible’
Lucas Patrick found himself biting his tongue on the sideline during the Green Bay Packers games against the Chicago Bears last season, watching Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields and “hoping this guy doesn’t get loose.”
After signing a two-year, $8 million contract to join the Bears offensive line, Patrick now finds himself on the other side, looking forward to making sure Fields can perform at his highest level.
“I mean, he’s got it,” Patrick said. “He can sling it, he can run it, he can do everything. But what I would say from our games, specifically the game that was here (in Chicago), he’s tough. He stood in there, and he’s tough. And he looked like he dealt with a lot this year not only coming in with that pressure he had but also physically dealing with some of the shots he took and some other things.
“I don’t want to speak too much on statistics, but I’ve had a good track record over the last two years of blocking for a quarterback and keeping him pretty clean. And I plan to keep him as clean as possible so he can make the plays that he was brought in here to make.”
That has to be music to Bears fans’ ears after Fields was sacked 36 times in 12 games in 2021.
In his introductory news conference Friday at Halas Hall, Patrick said he believes he will play center for the Bears but also has learned “in the NFL, it’s ‘be ready to play any position.’ ” Sam Mustipher, whom the Bears tendered as an exclusive-rights free agent, started all 17 games for the Bears at center last season.
Patrick started 11 games at center for the Packers in 2021, stepping in when rookie Josh Myers injured his knee against the Bears. Patrick also played both guard positions during his Packers career, which started when he signed as an undrafted free agent out of Duke in 2016. He ended up starting 34 games for the Packers, including 28 over the last two seasons.
Myers was Fields’ center at Ohio State, and Patrick said they’ve already spoken so he could get a sense for who Fields is as a person. Patrick expects a lot of work ahead as they build their communication and trust.
“It’s definitely going to be a lot of forced relationship conversations,” he said. “Justin’s going to be pretty annoyed by me, maybe. But no, it’ll be fun.”
Patrick, who said he flips a switch from his low-key demeanor when he gets on the field, thinks he excels at center because he can “apply some of my mental strengths and how I approach the game and how I see things, along with the physical approach that I can bring, kind of right at the apex of the offensive line. When you combine those two, you can play a certain way, and that allows me to play football how I think it should be intended, which is physical, tough but smart.”
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers used those same words to describe Patrick when talking with Green Bay reporters in October about how much he trusted him. Rodgers said Patrick could be an elite player at center when he was playing with confidence.
“(I) love the kid,” Rodgers said. “I tell him every single time he’s out there that I love going to battle with him because he’s the kind of a guy you know is going to have your back and you know is going to be in the right position at all time and doing exactly what he’s supposed to be doing — and battle and scrap and claw and fight as hard as he can.
“There’s not a specific value you can put on that because the role that he plays can be priceless at times.”
Patrick said his relationship with Rodgers grew over the years as he tried to prove himself to be professional and consistent — and as he played golf with him. Rodgers called him to congratulate him after he signed with the Bears.
Patrick said there are many things he saw Rodgers do in his preparation that he wants to bring with him to Chicago.
“One of the biggest things that he did was accountability, understanding game scenarios and bringing those up at any time,” Patrick said. “Whether it’s a walk-through, coming up in a few weeks with OTAs or practice, asking a question on, ‘Hey, what do you do in two-minute when you got this much time, two timeouts and you’re on the plus-45? Where’s your head at? Are you thinking yards over out of bounds or are you thinking completion? Mix in a run?’ Just the game-behind-the-game stuff. Just trying to bring as much of that as I can and help with the information that I’ve learned.”
After Patrick signed his deal, Bears general manager Ryan Poles said in a statement that Patrick was “a glue guy in the locker room and on the field.”
“Lucas is more than just a football player,” Poles said. “He is going to add leadership to our offensive line and raise the standard of how the Chicago Bears will play with grit, tenacity and finish.”
Patrick believes some of that leadership can come in the form of helping new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy as he establishes his offense. Getsy spent seven seasons in Green Bay, most recently as quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, and Patrick said he can help explain terminology and objectives of plays to his new teammates.
Patrick called Getsy “brilliant” and said he’s excited to continue his working relationship with him and new assistant tight ends coach Tim Zetts.
Those relationships, along with the “amazing financial backing,” helped draw him to the Bears. He choked up a bit when asked about his journey from being an undrafted free agent to earning a big free-agent contract.
“This opportunity is once in a lifetime, in my opinion,” Patrick said. “To go from one historic franchise to the historic franchise in the NFL, it’s Chicago. It speaks for itself. That was too good to pass up.”
As for making the switch in the rivalry, Patrick already struck the right tone.
“I’ve been on the winning side; I’m going to stay on the winning side,” he said. “We’re going to start winning these games. I firmly believe to win a Bears-Packers game you’ve got to be physical, you’ve got to be tough, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
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