Even Justin Fields thinks Trey Lance is taking way too many hits

Justin Fields is concerned for his fellow young quarterback Trey Lance and how many hits he’s taking.

Life can be rough for rookie and sophomore quarterbacks still getting adjusted to the increased physicality and speed of the pro-level game. That’s especially true for the new breed of quarterbacks that are unafraid to leave the pocket and put themselves directly in harm’s way against seasoned linemen and defensive backs.

Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields knows that all too well, having been sacked 36 times in his rookie season, 10th- most in the league in 2021. That put him on the grass three times a game in his rookie year.

After his Week 1 matchup watching rookie San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance from the sideline, he’s flashing back to his own year 1 and hoping that Lance can avoid that same fate.

Trey Lance is getting hit too much according to Justin Fields

Trey Lance was sacked twice on Sunday against the Bears, hit a total of four times. Considering the fact that the Bears didn’t blitz him even once on any of his dropbacks, that’s pretty bad. Dominique Robinson had two of the hits while Roquan Smith and Trevis Gipson each had a pair.

Fields enjoyed the win on Sunday, but didn’t like the hits for Lance:

https://twitter.com/sean_ hammond/status/ 1570107154161405959

It’s interesting that Fields is worried about how often Lance is getting hit, because in that regard, he’s getting it just as bad.

On Sunday, the Niners hit Fields three times, sacking him the same amount as Lance.

Both quarterbacks rushed a decent amount on Sunday,

Lance ran for 54 yards on 13 attempts, just two shy of Josh Allen’s Week 1 total. Fields rushed for 28 yards on 11 carries. Thankfully neither quarterback was in the top 10 in times sacked or sacked yards lost in Week 1. Compared to the astonishing number of times Joe Burrow and Matthew Stafford were sacked (7) in Week 1, Fields and Lance made out alright. Just three games in the Week 1 slate had a combined sack amount fewer than four and another game (Broncos v Seahawks) tied the four sacks from Bears/Niners.

In pocket time (average seconds QB had in the pocket) Fields (first, 3.1 seconds) and Lance (fourth, 2.8 seconds) were both top five.

Lance was put in harm’s way a bit more on Sunday due to scrambles, he was fourth in the NFL with four, yet 19th in yards per scramble. It will take some time for that anxious aspect of the game to come to him.

Obviously, Sunday’s very wet conditions have a lot to do with how the game went for the QBs, so it’ll be interesting to see how they fare in better conditions moving forward.