As I have written from sources in my "A-Deck" pieces, as recently as today, the word from the first couple weeks of camp was that quarterback play, particularly from Justin Fields, was a bit "up-and-down".
My sources told me at times Fields looked awesome, but at other times he looked like a sophomore with very limited game experience who was trying to adjust to a new playbook.
Everyone who is on here probably read or heard that Ryan Day talked Fields up big time today, saying the following about the QBs: "I think the guys are getting more and more reps under their belt. I do think Justin has taken a stride in the last couple days and the last week. He's moving the team nicely. Taking care of the ball better the last couple days. Throwing the ball on time. Improvement's there and leadership is improving. So you know, we've got a padded practice tomorrow, a padded practice on Saturday, and then we'll regroup and then go ahead on Monday."
I checked in with two separate sources following that today to see if Fields maybe had turned a corner following the weekend and now that he's in his third week of fall camp. Here is what I got:
Source 1: "I guess Ryan [Day] let the cat out of the bag a bit today, but the guy who is standing out the most in practice this week is Justin Fields. And it's not even close".
Source 2: "Justin is doing better than people think. What some people don't know is that leading up to the scrimmage on Saturday the offense had a few really good days that they strung together and were dominating the defense at times. It was just consistency was needed. This week, it's been unreal the periods [Fields] has put together. He looks more confident, like he has more command. I know they wanted to see that from him. I can't wait to for him to put everything he's learned on full display. He's working really hard and getting more confident each day."
I think it's really important to caution people that just as some people got "down" on a few Fields performances early in camp, that some people are going to get really excited about a few good performances. This doesn't mean all of a sudden he's going to be Texas Vince Young 2.0 or whatever, but it's certainly a good sign that two separate sources are saying very positive things about QB1 this week, and providing some more color to Day's comments earlier today.
My sources told me at times Fields looked awesome, but at other times he looked like a sophomore with very limited game experience who was trying to adjust to a new playbook.
Everyone who is on here probably read or heard that Ryan Day talked Fields up big time today, saying the following about the QBs: "I think the guys are getting more and more reps under their belt. I do think Justin has taken a stride in the last couple days and the last week. He's moving the team nicely. Taking care of the ball better the last couple days. Throwing the ball on time. Improvement's there and leadership is improving. So you know, we've got a padded practice tomorrow, a padded practice on Saturday, and then we'll regroup and then go ahead on Monday."
I checked in with two separate sources following that today to see if Fields maybe had turned a corner following the weekend and now that he's in his third week of fall camp. Here is what I got:
Source 1: "I guess Ryan [Day] let the cat out of the bag a bit today, but the guy who is standing out the most in practice this week is Justin Fields. And it's not even close".
Source 2: "Justin is doing better than people think. What some people don't know is that leading up to the scrimmage on Saturday the offense had a few really good days that they strung together and were dominating the defense at times. It was just consistency was needed. This week, it's been unreal the periods [Fields] has put together. He looks more confident, like he has more command. I know they wanted to see that from him. I can't wait to for him to put everything he's learned on full display. He's working really hard and getting more confident each day."
I think it's really important to caution people that just as some people got "down" on a few Fields performances early in camp, that some people are going to get really excited about a few good performances. This doesn't mean all of a sudden he's going to be Texas Vince Young 2.0 or whatever, but it's certainly a good sign that two separate sources are saying very positive things about QB1 this week, and providing some more color to Day's comments earlier today.
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