Chicago Bears will build offense around QB Justin Fields, new coach Matt Eberflus says

CHICAGO — New Bears coach Matt Eberflus had a very simple answer to how he'll handle second-year quarterback Justin Fields as the team begins installing a new system.

«Building the offense around him and his strengths,» Eberflus said Monday, after being introduced as the 17th head coach in franchise history. «What does that look like? I don't know right now.

»We have to look at him. We have to evaluate him. We have to see where his skill set is. And then see his camera. How does he see the game? How fast does he process? How fast does he do things and how can we stretch him as we go?"

The offense is high on the to-do list for Eberflus and new general manager Ryan Poles as they take over the Bears from Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace, respectively. Nagy inherited former quarterback Mitchell Trubisky — which ultimately didn't work out. Now Eberflus and Poles are in the same situation, inheriting Fields, who was drafted last year and had a rocky rookie season. The Bears ranked 27th in scoring in 2021, averaging 18.3 points per game.

«I'm very excited,» Fields said Monday. «Having a defensive head coach, I feel like there are some positives to that. I feel like being on the offense, you kind of know what the defense is doing, but you don't know what they're fully doing.… When you have a defensive head coach, he's able to explain to you what their jobs are, what their certain assignments are in a certain coverage, so I think that's one plus on having a defensive head coach.»

Eberflus was the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts before taking over in Chicago. The team hired former Green Bay Packers quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy to run the offense, but he and Eberflus are also inheriting a roster largely devoid of