Bears WR says Fields will make 49ers ‘pay’ for passing on him originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
When the 49ers travel to Soldier Field for their Week 1 matchup against the Chicago Bears, quarterback Justin Fields will have a chip on his shoulder facing one of the teams that passed on him in the 2021 NFL Draft.
San Francisco traded the No. 12 overall selection in 2021, first-round picks in 2022 and 2023, and a 2022 third-round pick to the Miami Dolphins to move up and select North Dakota State’s Trey Lance at No. 3 over Fields.
Fields would slide down the draft board, and eventually, the Bears would make a deal with the New York Giants to trade up and select Fields No. 11. Wide receiver Darnell Mooney warned the 49ers about what to expect from the Bears quarterback.
“He’s gonna, you know, prove everything that everybody doubted him on, especially Week 1, that team passed on them,” Mooney told reporters (H/T NBC Sports Chicago’s Josh Schrock). “So they’re going to have to pay a little bit for that.”
This season will prove whether the 49ers made the right decision in selecting Lance, who played 19 total games during his time at North Dakota State, over Fields.
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The 49ers have named the 22-year-old their starter for the 2022 NFL season, and Fields is heading into his second year under center for the Bears; as a result, both players will have their production compared throughout the year.
Nevertheless, when the season kicks off at 10 a.m. PT on Sept. 11 at Soldier Field, the 49ers will get the best from Fields, who is eager to show that general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan made a mistake.
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