Justin Fields having a great camp despite Roquan Smith drama

The Chicago Bears-Roquan Smith drama is taking all the attention, overshadowing the fact that quarterback Justin Fields is handling the new offense great so far.

Well, ever since linebacker Roquan Smith announced to the world that he and the Chicago Bears are at an impasse and that he requested a trade, the drama has been just about all anyone is talking about.

With the trade request and general manager Ryan Poles activating him from the PUP list, it is like a soap opera around camp. What happens next? Will Smith end up coming back? Will the Bears ultimately trade him?

The drama surrounding Smith is overshadowing quarterback Justin Fields’ performance in camp so far. He worked hard this offseason to learn the new offense. He took the playbook and some of his receivers and worked all summer to gain rapport with them.

Fields used his experience from last year to build on this year. He didn’t work at all with the starters and it showed when he finally got a chance to start. This year, however, he is the starter and the offense is built around his skills. Because of that, he wants to do as much work as possible before Week 1 arrives.

The work he’s been doing is shown during camp. Fields has been having a great camp. He is making great decisions and throwing accurate passes. He has been impressing people.

In his latest Under the Center podcast episode, Peter King talked about how impressed he was with Fields.

"I swear when I watched practice and I saw Justin Fieldsー I mean how many times have we seen Aaron Rodgers roll right and then nine out of 10 times he throws, and one out of 10 he scrambles. Well, I saw Justin Fields do it today, and his athleticism when he gets anywhere near the open field is fantastic…It’s in Justin Fields’ hands, period. He can do this. I love the offense he’s in. Luke Getsy is a rising star in this business. I think he’s in a really, really good position."

King also said that people around the team describe Fields with two terms — worker bee and coachable. Those are terms you want to hear from your quarterback who is learning a new offense.

A few days ago, Fields was without most of his offense. Four of his top receivers and three of his top offensive linemen were out. Despite that, he had the offense running smoothly, moving the ball downfield with ease.

Comfort over wins for Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears in 2022

We all know that the 2022 season isn’t about wins. This is not a roster that will win many games. The young players’ development, especially Fields, is what is most important.

The Bears could have four wins heading into the final weeks of the season but if Fields shows that he has a good grasp of the offense and that he could be the franchise quarterback the team desperately needed, then things are good. He’ll be surrounded by a lot better talent in 2023 when the Bears have the highest salary cap space in the NFL. If Fields shows he is the guy the team and fans think he is, then the wins will start to pile up and the rebuild becomes successful.

Fields is spending a lot of time doing film study. He watches what he is doing right. More importantly, he watches what he isn’t. That way he could get better. That impresses offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.

"The situational stuff is like, [Fields] can’t get enough of that. You’re talking about what makes the great quarterbacks great. It’s just that experience in dealing with all the different situations and understanding them."

Yes, all that is said about Fields doesn’t matter if his work during practice doesn’t translate to games. Coaches and teammates also lauded former Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky as well but everything fell apart during games. We’ll get our first look at the Chicago Bears offense led by Fields in their first preseason game on August 12th.

It’s a shame that instead of talking about how well Fields is doing at camp we’re left talking about what the next dramatic move happens with Smith, or Teven Jenkins, or whatever other drama that pops up.