CLEVELAND – Justin Fields and the Bears’ offense got their most significant work of the preseason Saturday against the Cleveland Browns.
After playing just one series against the Seahawks, head coach Matt Eberflus wanted to get an extended look at his first-team offense before the games start to count.
The night got off to an inauspicious start as the Bears’ offensive line had issues on the opening series. Teven Jenkins got beat on the first play as David Montgomery was dropped for a 1-yard loss. On third-and-11, right tackle Larry Borom got beat inside by Alex Wright, who forced Fields to throw it into the Browns’ bench.
Fields and the offense authored a strong response to their opening flop.
Montgomery opened the drive with a 6-yard run, and then Fields rolled out and hit fullback Khari Blasingame for 6. On the ensuing first down, Fields threw a quick swing pass to Darnell Mooney, who picked up 5.
Facing a second-and-5, Fields felt some pressure and elected to tuck it and run. He picked up 9 yards before sliding and being clobbered by linebacker Jacob Phillips. The late hit on Fields had center Sam Mustipher, tight end Ryan Griffin, and other Bears irate, while injured center Lucas Patrick was hot on the Bears’ sideline.
The penalty marched the Bears 15 yards into Browns’ territory, but Griffin was flagged for holding on the following play setting up a first-and-20 at the Cleveland 49.
Fields erased the penalty with two sharp throws. A 14-yard strike to Dante Pettis and an 8-yard catch by Cole Kmet got the Bears inside the 30-yard line to the 27.
Two plays later, Fields got the offense in the end zone for the first time this preseason. Given a clean pocket by the offensive line, Fields stepped up and fired a dart to Griffin for a 22-yard touchdown.
Fields went 5-for-5 for 55 yards on the drive while adding 9 on the ground.
Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy dialed up a good mix of plays on the scoring drive, and the route combination on the Griffin touchdown was a thing of beauty.
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But Fields and the offense weren’t finished scoring.
The Bears started their next drive on their own 48 and quickly marched back into the red zone.
Fields found Equanimeous St. Brown for 18 yards down to the 25, and Montgomery followed with a 13-yard run down to the 12.
On first-and-10, Fields got another clean pocket and tossed a dime to Pettis on a post-corner route for a 12-yard score.
After being forced to punt on their fourth possession, Fields and the offense got back to their newfound scoring ways.
Taking over at their own 38 after a Greg Stroman interception, Fields hit Isaiah Coulter for 6, Nsimba Webster for 7, and then dumped it off to Khalil Herbert in the flat, who rumbled for 14.
A 4-yard pass to Kmet, a 6-yard pass to Herbert, and a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 set the Bears up with a first-and-10 at the Browns’ 24.
Fields faked the handoff to Herbert and bootlegged right and found Kmet all by himself in the end zone for his third touchdown pass of the night.
That was all she wrote for Fields’ preseason tune-up.
The second-year quarterback was sharp, finishing the night 14-of-16 for 156 yards and three touchdowns.
He led scoring drives of 80, 52, and 62 yards while posting a passer rating of 146.9.
Progress might have finally met production, and not a moment too soon, with Week 1 just 15 days away.