Both players are on different teams this season, but Justin Fields and Eric Kendricks have a history dating back to the NFC North where both started their careers. That history has informed Kendricks on the type of player Fields is, and he had nothing but praise for his upcoming foe on Sunday Night Football.
The Dallas Cowboys brought in Kendricks this year to help their depleted inside linebacker group, and he discussed the matchup against Fields and the Pittsburgh Steelers via the Cowboys’ YouTube channel.
“The thing is, when he’s running out of the pocket, he’s really running to look downfield. I mean, I know that we know of him as being a running quarterback, which he’s a great athlete, but every time he escapes the pocket, those are usually when his deep balls come out of the backfield,” Kendricks said. “He is looking downfield and he’s really good at throwing the ball long distances.
“We know if for those big fat runs and obviously he has crazy highlights, but every time we played him, every time I played him when I was in Minnesota, it was kind of like you never know what to expect with him because it’s big plays everywhere.”
Fields has had no shortage of big plays this season, and he has largely eliminated the negative plays that used to come in tandem with the good plays. Through the first four games, Fields has completed 11 explosive passing plays of 20 yards or more to six different targets. Several of those included Fields getting outside the pocket and keeping his eyes downfield, though his biggest play of the season was a 55-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Austin III from the pocket.
Fields has played against Kendricks two times in his career, once in 2021 and once in 2022. The Chicago Bears lost both of those games, but Fields had respectable efforts.
The first time, Fields completed 26 of his 39 pass attempts for 285 yards and a touchdown. He also chipped in seven rush attempts for 35 yards in the 17-9 loss to the Vikings. The second time, Fields completed 15 of 21 attempts for 208 yards and a touchdown with eight rushing attempts for 47 yards in a 29-22 loss. Fields didn’t throw any interceptions in those games, but he fumbled four times, losing one of them.
Fields has limited his big mistakes this year with just one interception and one fumble lost, completing over 70 percent of his passes and accounting for six total touchdowns. This could finally be the week that Fields notches a win over Kendricks when the Steelers and the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.
