Earlier this month, the Chicago Bears officially decided to part ways with former starting quarterback Justin Fields after his three seasons with the team, trading him to the Pittsburgh Steelers as they are presumably set to select Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. And it sounds like one division rival coach is happy to see him leaving the NFC North.
During an interview at the NFL’s annual league meetings this week, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell made it clear that he is actually happy that the Bears have decided to move on from Justin Fields given how difficult he found it to play against him.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s nice to have Fields out of that division,” Campbell said according to Detroit Lions beat writer Jeremy Reisman of Pride of Detroit.
While Fields did not necessarily have a ton of success against the Lions in particular throughout his career, leading the team to a 2-3 record in five starts against Detroit, he is particularly difficult to defend personally given his dual-threat ability. Fields did rush for over 100 yards in three of those games against the Bears.
We’ll have to see how Campbell feels about facing Williams next season.