Fields thought he had another free play on 1st interception originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
For the second time in as many weeks, Justin Fields thought he had a free shot down the field, only to throw a pick with no flag on the field. There were a few differences this time however. To start, it was far less obvious. In addition, Fields said he had someone in his ear telling him to snap the ball to draw a penalty.
“In the headset they were telling me we had 12 men on the field, so I was trying to snap the ball quick,” Fields said. “And then me snapping the ball quick, I think it caught our receivers off guard, because we were trying to get a flag, so me thinking that we had 12 men on the field, that’s a free play. So I’m thinking, ‘All right, scramble around and stuff like that. And then, of course, I see A-Rob downfield and I think he slips and of course the pick. I mean, that’s just trying to get 12 people on the field, and then it just went bad from there.”
On the TV broadcast, the crew was coming back from a highlight package as the ball was snapped, so we can’t tell yet if the Bucs truly did have 12 men on the field. If so, it’s more bad luck for the rookie. If not, he got some bad info.
Either way, Matt Nagy called it another learning moment for Fields.
“We have techniques within our system to be able to try to take advantage (of free plays) and when that happens if they do have 12 guys on and you catch them, obviously it’s a free play. If they don’t and you hear that, that’s where you gotta understand that and learn from that, and that’s our job to make sure we’re teaching that the right way and he’s understanding that. Not just him but everybody.”
Click here to follow the Under Center Podcast.
Download
Download MyTeams Today!