Chicago Bears Justin Fields couldn’t escape the Browns’ rush, but he escaped criticism

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It’s on days like these that one remembers this great philosopher mother Panpan and her words to her boy in Bambi: If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.

So regarding the organization of the Bears, from top to bottom, following Ms. Panpan’s advice (in truth, she was passing on Mr. Panpan’s wisdom, and Panpan repeated it with his poor English), the rest of this column should be empty.

From Ryan Pace to Matt Nagy to the O-Line to Random McCaskeys roaming Halas Hall to the ghost of Papa Bears looking for a quarterback in the wild, everyone in the organization has been pretty much wild. .

Chicago put a clothespin on its collective nose.

An epic 26-6 loss to the Browns will do it.

OK, linebackers Roquan Smith, Robert Quinn, Khalil Mack were mostly excluded. And the defense as a whole played well.

But the offensive mess behind rookie rookie quarterback Justin Fields nine sacks, six downs, 47 net yards? is almost beyond belief.

But it happened.

The spotlight has therefore been turned on all the contributing culprits.

Except one.

And that would be Fields himself.

At just 22, starting an NFL game for the first time, with 15 assists to his CV, he was tracked down, pounded and crushed to such an extent in Cleveland that the concern was not whether he was good but if he would survive.

He did, thank goodness. Indeed, he lived to watch movies and cringe and pray for better times to come.

But are they?

Surely they can’t be as bad as being fed beyond reason to Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney, the smirking, slobbering Browns? pass the rushers. But with the battle smoke emanating from FirstEnergy Stadium, it’s clear we still know next to nothing about the Bears’ alleged savior.

Can it jam effectively? Who knows? Can he read zones and blitzes and complex defensive patterns? Who knows? Can he lead like a leader? Who knows?

In a sense, Fields escaped the Browns unscathed. You can’t blame him, really, for anything. You cannot criticize something that he has never had a chance to do.

But on the other hand, there is no indication that he is heading for greatness. There is no indication of anything at this point.

The Bears have ruined or cut many quarterbacks, and you have to wonder if it’s the franchise itself or poor draft picks, trades, or practice that is doing the damage.

The five rookie quarterbacks in the NFL’s first round this season, Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Mac Jones, Trey Lance and Fields are struggling or shy or somehow invisible.

Their teams have a combined 4-11 record.

It is the fate of first-year quarters to suffer and bleed. This is what they do. The NFL is far too complex and fast-paced for most novices.

Want some history?

Troy Aikman started 11 games for the Cowboys in his rookie year, threw nine touchdowns, 18 interceptions and lost every game. Oh, and he was pulped.

But it’s a winning story because he got back up, healed, got better, won three Super Bowls and is now a Hall of Famer.

So, is this the future story of Fields? Or is it that of so many other rookie first-round quarterbacks who were failures early, middle, and their quick ends?

I’ll give you Art Schlichter, Matt Leinart, Akili Smith, Kelly Stouffer, JaMarcus Russell, Andre Ware, Heath Shuler, Tim Couch, and Mark Sanchez to start. All were among the top 10 picks. None have ever led your fantasy league.

We have to ask ourselves if Mitch Trubisky was ruined by the legacy of the Bears, by Nagy, by reckless infractions, bad drafts, bad O lines. Or if the hell rock him as a backup with the bills and get it right.

And don’t forget, Trubisky actually played in a Pro Bowl for a year.

Fields did none of these. It is a blank slate.

He’s fast and you can hardly see him running. He has a decent arm, and you barely see him go by.

He was from Ohio State, which is more talented than most NFL teams, and we remember the Buckeyes quarterbacks, maybe because they’re spoiled, historically don’t make good pros.

We ask ourselves. And we hope Nagy and his team come out of the dark and do something to help Fields do what he does best.

Whatever it may be.

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