Bears’ quarterback Justin Fields said breathing techniques he learned from a team yoga instructor have helped his endurance and composure in games.
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Justin Fields played what arguably was his best half of NFL football Sunday when the Bears’ comeback against the Minnesota Vikings came up short in a 29-22 loss at U.S. Bank Stadium.
After the loss, the 23-year-old quarterback said it was the most comfortable he has felt on an NFL field in his short career. Fields pointed to his ability to play at his own rhythm and not get sped up against the Vikings’ defense.
“Playing quarterback, you have to have a rhythm,” Fields said Tuesday at Halas Hall.” You can’t just be one time drop back superfast, throw it really fast. You’ve just got to stay relaxed, stay calm. We throw certain routes all day, so pretty much just treat everything like routes on air. Of course, you’re going to have to move in the pocket this and that when D-linemen come and stuff like that, but as much as possible you just want to stay calm and stay in that rhythm that you have in routes on air when there’s not a rush.”
Learning to play at his own speed, in his own rhythm, is a process Fields has been working on. He attributes the success he found Sunday to a new breathing technique he recently implemented.
“Honestly, if I’m being real, I think it has something to do with my breathing,” Fields said. “I’ve been working on my breathing during the games, like in slow like four seconds and out slow. I think just doing that automatically keeps me more calm in the pocket and really just during the game. I don’t even like doing pregame speeches because I feel like I’m so much calmer than everybody else. When the defensive guys are all juiced up ready to go, I just try to stay chill the whole time.”
Fields’ focus on his breathing stems from yoga classes the Bears set up a few days before each game. The second-year signal-caller found the breathing exercise helpful when trying to stay composed and decided to put it into practice on Sunday against the Vikings.
The Bears' young quarterback’s second half in Minnesota was an impressive 30 minutes of football. Fields went 12-for-13 for 135 yards and a touchdown. He also added 36 yards on the ground and had a 53-yard touchdown run called back due to an illegal block.
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The accuracy, pocket presence, and decisiveness Fields showed in Minnesota were signs of the incremental progress the Bears have been preaching. But it was the poise that stuck out to offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.
“I thought he did a really nice job in that game in the sense of he kept his composure,” Getsy said. “They got off to a big lead, he kept the team together, he did a really job of hunting completions for us. Then, you know, he had three or four unbelievable escapes that were ridiculous. I thought he did a pretty good job. Again, we're getting a little bit better each week and that's truly our purpose, that's our goal.”
Fields has always appeared calm and collected. The expression on his face rarely changes, no matter the situation.
But Fields maintains it hasn’t always been that way. That too has been a process.
“I think it came with time to be honest with you,” Fields said of his poise. “It just came with mistakes. Like I said after the game on Sunday, last year I felt like I had to speed myself up or be crazy pumped-up just because everybody else is. But I think playing quarterback, the more you can stay calm, the more you can stay relaxed I think the better you'll play.”
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Fields has tried to inject that composure, steady-handedness, and perhaps the new breathing exercise into all aspects of his Year 2 development with the Bears.
That includes how he personally views the process of slowly building him into the NFL quarterback his talent suggests. It’s human to want to see the fruits of your labor immediately. Fields knows that’s not how it works at this level.
“I don’t think you can,” Fields said when asked if he gets impatient with the plan. “You can never rush your process. There was a thing we went over in chapel the other day which is progress is taking patience, pursuit, and something else. But that’s one thing that you have to look at when your goal is to just have progress all year. Progress takes patience.”
That patience and breathing helped Fields deliver a brilliant second half in a near-comeback. But that mindset also has Fields viewing Sunday’s performance as a small step in the right direction and nothing more.
“That’s not going to be the best I ever play in my life,” Fields said.
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