Justin Fields’ dismal 1st start included 9 sacks and 6 completions. Can the Chicago Bears rookie work his way out of the ‘dark space’?

As Justin Fields stood in a cramped media room underneath FirstEnergy Stadium after his first NFL start, the Chicago Bears rookie quarterback began to get goosebumps.

And not the good kind.

“The way I feel right now, I’m not used to this,” he said. “I don’t like feeling like this. … Literally while I’m saying this, I’m getting goosebumps because I just don’t like feeling like this. So I’m just going to get back and I’m going to work.”

Fields had never had a day quite like Sunday’s 26-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns, when the excitement of the first-round pick’s first full game was pummeled again and again into the field by the Browns’ nine sacks.

It started with 4 minutes, 18 seconds to play in the first quarter, when Jadeveon Clowney shoved past Bears right tackle Germain Ifedi to take down Fields for a loss of 10 yards.

Over the rest of the game, Fields had only one extended drive in which he wasn’t sacked. Myles Garrett set a Browns franchise record with 41/2 sacks, which included easily running around left tackle Jason Peters. Clowney had two, and four other players chipped in.

Beyond that, Fields and the Bears didn’t find any rhythm as they netted 47 yards of offense. Fields completed 6 of 20 passes for 68 yards and no touchdowns and rushed for 12 yards on three carries. According to CBS, the Bears’ 1.1 yards per play was the second-worst average of any team this century.

Bumps are to be expected as Fields begins a journey the Bears hope will lead to him becoming the franchise quarterback, but he and coach Matt Nagy clearly were stunned at how bad it became Sunday.

“(It’s) kind of like you’re in a dark space and you just want to do everything you can to just get a win,” Fields said. “Like no matter what it is, no matter how long I have to stay in the facility. No matter what.”

Fields said he didn’t have a chance to talk to Nagy after the game because he was having an X-ray on his throwing hand, which he said is OK.

When he played the second half of the Week 2 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals in place of injured starter Andy Dalton, Fields threw for only 60 yards and rushed for 31. But the Bears were hopeful they would have more success with a week for Fields to get more reps with the starters and for the coaches to tailor the game plan to him.

After Sunday’s game, Nagy didn’t have immediate answers. He noted the Browns’ defensive game plan helped disrupt the Bears’ ability to get Fields on the move. When asked about the sacks, Nagy said he would dive into film on the short plane ride back from Cleveland.

“Really at this point, with the limited amount of yards that you had on offense and the limited amount of plays and limited amount of points, we’ve got to get to the bottom of it,” Nagy said. “So we’ll look at that and see, but it starts with me.”

Nagy will face a lot of questions about his game plan this week, but Fields didn’t play into that criticism when asked if he would have liked more opportunities to use his mobility.

“I like to score touchdowns,” Fields said. “That’s it. So whatever way, whether that’s dropping back in the pocket, moving out in the pocket, it doesn’t matter to me.”

The Bears have praised Fields often over the last few months for his confidence and poise, and Nagy and left guard Cody Whitehair continued that after the game. Whitehair said Fields stayed positive in the huddle despite the rough outing.

That’s one reason Nagy is confident Fields won’t let the dismal outing affect his growth.

“It’s not going to damage his development because I know who he is and, on the sideline, how he was,” Nagy said. “When he watches and sees, let’s see as we go through it what the whys are, whether it’s a protection or a timing element. Whether it’s something in the run game. Let’s use this to try and help you get better and see where things are.

“He’s very coachable. He cares. He’ll definitely do that.”

Fields said he consulted with Dalton and backup quarterback Nick Foles on the sideline throughout the game as he tried to stay focused in the middle of the difficulties.

Dalton traveled with the team for that purpose even though the Bears knew he would be inactive because of the bone bruise in his knee he suffered against the Bengals.

“They were just telling me there’s going to be days like this and of course games like this, but it’s about how you respond,” Fields said. “They were just trying to keep my spirits up, so it’s great to have those guys as a support system and just knowing that we support each other.”

Nagy said last week that Dalton remains the Bears starter when healthy and he wasn’t going to get into hypothetical scenarios about what would happen if Fields played well Sunday.

After the game, Nagy wouldn’t answer whether Fields will be the starter moving forward, saying they need to determine Dalton’s status for this week.

“There is just too much stuff going on with Andy, so I’m not getting into that right now,” he said.

Regardless of the circumstance, Fields vowed to get back to work.

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