3 differences in Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields play since returning from injury

Justin Fields has essentially played five games before his injury and five games after he returned from his injury. He has almost exactly 160 pass attempts in both samples, so this is a perfect split to see how the Chicago Bears quarterback has grown this season. 

Were there things that Fields was able to learn in his four weeks on the bench that have been applied on the field?

3. Justin Fields is controlling his sack problem for the Chicago Bears

One of the big notes from Tyson Bagent starting four games was how few sacks he took compared to Justin Fields. This was something Fields had to work on if he wanted to keep his chances of starting in the NFL. So far, this is an area with real improvement.

In the first five games, he took a sack on 13% of his dropbacks, which is about the normal rate for his career. In the five games since he returned from injury, that is down to 6%, an impressive turnaround. He is down from 4 sacks per game to 2.4. You can say it is a small sample, but with Minnesota and Cleveland on the schedule, he faced two teams that brought pressure and sacks as much as anyone. He survived with both his best rates. 

The big difference is his pressure-to-sack rate. He was taking too many sacks when he faced pressure, well above normal. That is how you know the line was not as much of an issue as him. Now, despite facing similar rates of pressure, he takes a sack under pressure just 12.5% of the time. That was 22.8% in the first five and a half games. His career rate is 22.9%. 

Four of the six lowest-pressure-to-sack rate games of his career have come in the last five games of his career. He is obviously getting better in this area.