Fields says he wants Bears offense to match defense's energy in practice
CHICAGO (CBS) – Day 2 in pads was the Bears' longest practice of training camp with some extended offense vs. defense work.
CBS 2's Jori Parys reported from Halas Hall that it wasn't the best day for Justin Fields and the first-team offense.
Fields said the Bears' defense "definitely won" their two-hour and 20-minute practice on Wednesday and brought the energy, something the quarterback wants to see reciprocated.
"It's good that the defense is chirping at us, you know, because other teams are going to do that," Fields said. "I just want to see our guys chirp back at them when we have a good play. Even every little play, we chirp back at them and it's just that competitive spirit going back and forth between us. That's going to do nothing but make us better.
Wide receiver Darnell Mooney said of Fields is "a calm guy, so he has to understand that he is our leader and our guy, so we go as far as he goes. He has to come in with that juice."
One of the players bringing the juice on defense was new linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, whose 6-foot-5 stature over the middle is already helping make the offense better.
"Just his presence, I mean, he's so huge," Fields said. "He definitely covers ground well too. It's been great for us as an offense to have him out there to challenge us every day. Of course he's been a great defensive leader so far."
For his part, Edmunds said he thinks the defense has a lot of big, fast players on the defensive side of the ball.
"Even [safety Jaquan Brisker], he's a big safety," Edmunds said. "Bojack [safety Eddie Jackson] is a big safety. We've got big guys all around. That's amazing. You got big guys that could take up a lot of space, that eats up a lot of ground and that are dogs, that can play football. That's special and definitely something to be excited about."
Fields' confidence entering year two in the same offense has already been well noted at training camp.
Mooney said there's no confusion with the playbook. Fields knows where he wants to go with the ball and is calling plays himself.
Luke Getsy with high praise for the defense saying they’ve been challenging Justin Fields like crazy which he says has been “really fun to see”
— Jori Parys (@JoriParys) August 2, 2023
Added Fields has been doing a great job staying focused, explaining how if he makes a mistake he doesn’t do it twice. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/GO6TVUwb9l