Justin Fields’ debut as Bears starting quarterback was hardly memorable.
The rookie, who the Bears moved up from No. 20 to No. 11 in the 2021 NFL Draft, had nowhere to run and rarely found anyone open as Cleveland defeated the Bears, 26-6, Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland.
The Browns sacked Fields nine times and held the Bears to 1 passing yard. NFL statistics subtract sack yardage from the team’s passing totals.
Fields, who was 10-0 in Ohio while quarterbacking Ohio State, was sacked 4 1/2 times by defensive end Myles Garrett. Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney had two sacks.
Bears coach Matt Nagy has said all along that free agent acquisition Andy Dalton, signed before the Bears drafted Fields, would be the starting quarterback. But Dalton suffered a slight knee injury in last week’s win over Cincinnati and was not ready to go.
Many Bears’ fans wanted to see Fields play, believing he is the team’s future at quarterback. Fields was 6-of-20 passing for 68 yards, although he did not throw an interception. He rushed three times for 12 yards.
The Bears (1-2) offered Fields little help on offense as the line struggled to protect him. The defense kept the game close for a while, but the Browns (2-1) had the ball almost twice as long as the Bears, 39:34 to 20:26.
Source: The Daily Chronicle
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