Justin Fields is well aware of the far from optimal turf conditions at the Chicago Bears’ home, Soldier Field. However, instead of piling on to the critiques and complaints Saturday, he believes there are actually advantages to the poor field conditions in Chi-town.
Ahead of the Bears beginning their preseason schedule against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, the sad state of the field in Chicago was a major story. Team writer Jason Lieser tweeted photos of how horrid it looked during pre-game, then player agent David Canter retweeted the post and proclaimed the game should be postponed because the conditions seemed unsafe for the athletes.
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Soldier Field is the oldest venue in the NFL. Having opened in 1924 and added the Bears as tenants in 1971. However, it still houses an NFL franchise with boatloads of cash and it’s unacceptable for this level of professional sports. It seems that Chicago’s focus is more on proposed plans for $2 billion in renovations over the next couple of years instead of having the grass at the level of other NFL arenas.
Justin Fields took advantage of poor turf of Chicago Bears’ home in 2021
This issue actually isn’t anything new and has been a consistent problem for the Chicago Bears. However, while it is not optimal and could be an injury trap, Bears starting QB Justin Fields tried to find some positives on Saturday after the team’s 19-14 win over the Chiefs. As he revealed that he saw some unique advantages to knowing the ins and outs of the terrible turf during his rookie season in 2021.
- Justin Fields stats (2021): 1,870 yards, 7 TDs, 10 INTs, 73.2 rating
“It’s kind of always been like that. … I’m just glad it was better than earlier this week because that wasn’t the best. … To be honest, last year I used our home field as an advantage because I knew how our grass was.”
Justin Fields on Soldier field’s turf [via Kevin Fishbain]
It seems absurd that an NFL starting quarterback has to find positives in a situation that wouldn’t cut it at a second-tier DI college football stadium. But this is the Bears, and they are a mess right now in every way, including the field itself.