How the Chicago Bears rookies performed before the bye week

Sorry to my fellow Chicago Bears fans. I was very sick for some time, but we are back to 100% and ready to talk Chicago Bears football. A few of my coworkers blame the terrible loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for my sickness. You know what? They might be right.

The Chicago Bears looked far from the team when they beat the Super Bowl Champs last year with Mitch Trubisky running the show. Justin Fields had five turnovers and looked every bit of a rookie quarterback in the NFL. Khalil Herbert was the bright star among his rookie peers that played well during that Tampa Bay blowout. One week passed, and Justin Fields looked to have taken the leap we were expecting during the San Fransico 49ers.

How have the rookies performed for the Chicago Bears prior to the bye

I am sure you are tired of hearing about this, but the defense let the team down that game. The Chicago fanbase that wants to trade Khalil Mack away needs to look in the mirror a bit more and ask themselves if they understand the concept of football.

The Chicago Bears’ defense without one of the best defensive players in the league looks like the team we have seen the past few weeks without their star player. I know we are here to discuss rookies, but this is the outcome of not having Khalil Mack.

Do you really want that? Justin Fields had me clapping and screaming as loudly as I could in bed during the 49ers game. Fields made decisive decisions at an NFL starter capacity.

Justin Fields still has a lot to learn and even more growing pains and excitement to bring. Chicago Bears fans may not have ever had a quarterback of this caliber, but we have seen talented quarterbacks throughout our lifetimes. Imagine what things can be like in the future with a potential Aaron Rodgers/Brett Favre guy on our roster. I am so pumped.

Currently, Justin Fields’ stat line doesn’t look the best due to the turnovers. He has four touchdowns to eight interceptions in nine games. If you have been watching the games, though, for one reason or another, Fields is missing out on two to three more touchdowns and could have had about three interceptions taken away.

Khalil Herbert has been a brighter rookie, filling in for David Montgomery and possibly bypassing Damien Williams on the depth chart. Khail Herbert, in his six games of action as a running back, has 85 rushing attempts for 364 yards. His rushing totals are good for 4.3 yards per rush. While Khalil Herbert has been excellent, and Justin Fields has been good. Larry Borom should not be forgotten.

Talk about a task to start Borom’s young career. A fifth-round tackle had to face Nick Bosa and T.J. Watt in back-to-back games. How did Borom do? Better than the starting tackles against the Cleveland Browns.

I know we all seem against Pro Football Focus (PFF), but what can you do? According to PFF, Borom has allowed one sack and had one penalty in 147 snaps. Borom’s numbers include playing left tackle during the opener and right tackle the past two games.

The Chicago Bears season could be over, but with the rookies coming in hot and Justin Fields growing as we speak, this could be a different team after the bye week. Matt Nagy needs to count on that after the refs cost them a win over the Steelers in Week 9. Just kidding (not really, that wasn’t very good).

Fingers crossed, Justin Fields keeps the learning curve going up and that the refs don’t think he is Cam Newton. Speaking of which, get out of harm’s way, Justin Fields. I will repeat this; he is not a running quarterback.

Justin Fields ran for 800 yards in three seasons as a college quarterback. Lamar Jackson averaged 800 yards rushing a season while Deshaun Watson ran for 1,000 yards a season. Fields is a very fast pocket passer. Believe it or not, Justin Fields’ arm is better than his 4.4 speed.