Luke Getsy Revealed Play That Told Him Fields Is Getting It
Luke Getsy isn’t big on heaping praise. The young Chicago Bears offensive coordinator doesn’t mind saying when players do a good job, but he always limits it. He wants to make sure guys know there is room to improve. That is what most good coaches do. Getsy had every reason to be happy two weeks ago in the preseason finale. Justin Fields put together his best performance of the summer with three touchdown passes and only two incompletions in Cleveland.
He made multiple impressive plays in the game, including the TD pass to Ryan Griffin between two defenders or the rollout TD toss to Cole Kmet. Neither was the play that stood out to Getsy. Believer or not, the one that got him the most excited was an 11-yard completion. It came early in the 2nd quarter. Chicago faced 3rd and 8 at their own 25. Fields took the snap and surveyed. He couldn’t find anybody open. When a Browns defender found a lane to him, the quarterback spun out at the last second, scrambling to his left.
Rather than take off running, Fields kept looking for open receivers. Here you can see his eyes glance towards the right. That subtle move drew the coverage in that direction, allowing Equanimeous St. Brown to pop open along the left sideline. Fields hit him for a 1st down.
His offensive coordinator mentioned it during his presser afterward.
“He reaped the reward of listening to his feet. The timing and rhythm was good most of the night. We’ve talked a lot about pocket presence. That’s something a young quarterback has to grow through and I thought that showed up. He did a nice job with that. You had the escape on third down that he knew time was up and he made the most of that play too.”
Getsy later called it, “My favorite play of the game.”
Luke Getsy can see Fields becoming a true QB.
The devil is in the details. Notice how Getsy mentioned that it wasn’t the scramble that made the play great. It was the timing of the decision. Fields stood in the pocket for a long time. He’d gone through all his progressions. When it was clear nobody was open, only then did he start running. His timing and rhythm were never off. Then he used a veteran move by manipulating the coverage with his eyes to get his receiver open for an easy 1st down.
Fields’ primary issue last season was a tendency not to stay on schedule in the pocket. Too often, he wouldn’t get past his first read before tucking the ball and running. There were glimpses of that earlier in the preseason too. Cleveland was the first game where it never felt like he was out of control. His footwork was calm, and he operated within the structure of the offense. Only when the play didn’t unfold as expected did he use his gifts to make something happen.
That is what Luke Getsy hopes to see lots more of in the coming months. That is what will make Fields a better quarterback.