Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields met with with the media Tuesday in advance of the team's first training camp practice Wednesday morning. He addressed his expectations entering his second season in the league and spent a few moments acknowledging wide receiver Darnell Mooney and the impact he's had on the young quarterback.
"His work ethic, his mindset on things. He got drafted in the sixth round or something like that, just seeing how he's progressed the last two years, just seeing how hard he works," Fields said. "He pushes me to be better. I think we push each other.
"We've got together a couple of times over the break. We'd come here at 10, 10:30 at night just throwing routes and stuff like that ... Having him being the leader of the receiver room, we're just trying to get some more guys on board."
Justin Fields and Darnell Mooney have a chance to become one of the NFL's more exciting young quarterback-wide receiver duos. There's no substitute for working hard at developing timing between passer and receiver. The Bears' combo has done their part this offseason to maximize their connection in 2022.
Other than Mooney, the Bears wide receiver room features unproven talents like Byron Pringle, rookie Velus Jones Jr., former first-round pick N'Keal Harry, and Equanimeous St. Brown. There's certainly some upside with this group, but the passing game will run through Mooney. He'll have to prove early in the 2022 season that his lacking physical stature won't prevent him from becoming a legitimate WR1 this year.
Even if Mooney tops out as a really, really good WR2, the impact he's having on Justin Fields is invaluable. The Chicago Bears kick off training camp practices from Halas Hall at 10 a.m CST on Wednesday.