When Justin Fields arrived in Chicago as the No. 11 overall pick in 2021, the expectations were sky-high. The Bears franchise was starving not just for team success, but also for production from the quarterback position. After a stellar college career at Ohio State — including being named the Big Ten Most Valuable Player in 2020 — Fields seemed like a worthy candidate to remedy both.
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But the weight of those expectations quickly became apparent. Chicago’s media landscape is notoriously unrelenting and can be a tough landscape to navigate for a young athlete. In the NFL, whether you’re a coach or a star quarterback, patience runs thin quickly, and few are given much time to find their footing.
Now with the New York Jets, Fields said he didn’t always handle that criticism as well as he would’ve liked earlier in his career.
“I would kind of let opinions shape my opinion, but you can’t really do that because you’ll start thinking like those opinions,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“I was sleeping on reading the Bible early in my life. I wish I had started earlier.”
Good stuff here from Jets QB @justnfields on how reading God’s word has helped him grow.pic.twitter.com/sPaRb8qaYK
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Fields showed flashes as a great runner, but critics weren’t sold on him as a passer. Still, the Bears stood by him despite having the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and the opportunity to go a different direction with quarterbacks like Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson available.
Instead, they made a blockbuster trade with the Carolina Panthers, who eventually traded star wide receiver D.J. Moore and a haul of draft picks for the No. 1 overall pick, which they used on Young. That trade netted the Bears the No. 1 overall pick yet again the following year, and this time they made the decision to move on in order to draft former Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams.
The Bears traded Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he started six games in 2024 while Russell Wilson was injured. Fields played well, throwing five touchdowns with just one interception, but head coach Mike Tomlin reinstalled Wilson as the starter once he was healthy.
And after just one season, the Steelers elected not to re-sign Fields, making him a free agent. He signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Jets, effectively swapping places with veteran Aaron Rodgers, who left the Jets for the Steelers.
The 26-year-old Fields is in a new spot, both geographically and mentally, he said. That criticism doesn’t get to him as much, and he said his faith in God has been the catalyst. He’s ready for the fresh start, where all signs point to him being a starting quarterback again.
“I would say I just kind of got like this just the past six months,” he said Tuesday. “… I’m glad I’ve grown out of that stage and I’m glad that the only approval I need is from my teammates, my coaches and God, ultimately.”
The key, he added, has been his daily time reading the Bible.
“I’m being real — there’s some great lines and great wisdom that I didn’t even know of,” he said. “I’m low-key addicted to getting in my Bible each and every day just because I learn something new every day and I’m able to apply it in my everyday life. I was sleeping on reading the Bible earlier in my life and I wish I would’ve started earlier. So I encourage you all to go read a little bit, starting in Proverbs then move on from there.”
His newfound confidence has been noticeable. So much so that he was stopped on the street and asked where his confidence comes from. Without hesitating, Fields quickly responded: “The Lord.”
“You’ve just got to find your confidence in Him,” he said. “No matter what happens in life, you’ve just got to let Him have control over it and just control what you can control. … My parents kind of instilled that to me when I was a young age, so I’ve always been like that.”
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A reporter asked him on Tuesday if his newfound rhythm of daily time in the Word will help him be successful on the field.
“I know it will,” he said. “I know it will, for sure.”
The Jets take on the crosstown rival Giants on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET in each team’s second preseason game.
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