Baker Mayfield recently inserted himself into the comments Andy Dalton made about Justin Fields, showing his support for the veteran.
Advertisement
The Chicago Bears are entering the 2020-21 NFL season with a lot of questions, but their biggest question mark is at the game’s most important position: quarterback.
During the NFL offseason, the Bears were in the mix to try and trade for Russell Wilson, but they ultimately couldn’t get a deal done as the Seahawks were looking for more than Chicago could offer. They signed Andy Dalton as a contingency plan, but when the opportunity came to take a quarterback in the NFL draft.
They traded up to the 11th pick and snagged Justin Fields out of Ohio State. Now, the question is how early Fields takes over the starting job from Andy Dalton. Dalton knows the pressure on him to keep his job, and so he made the following comments:
Andy Dalton believes the Bears are his team to lead this season. pic.twitter.com/T31uMsjWU7
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) August 19, 2021
Baker Mayfield Rips Apart Media For Spinning Narratives On Andy Dalton’s Justin Fields Comments
As you saw in the above post, many other social media accounts and fan pages have taken Dalton’s words out of context. If you were to hear Dalton go “It’s my time” right after the Bears rookie had a great preseason game and is set to be the quarterback of the future, you’d wonder where Dalton’s headspace is at too.
However, that phrase is part of a much bigger interview and message that Dalton was trying to deliver. This is what Dalton said in its entirety:
“Justin’s going to have a great career, but right now is my time”
— Andy Dalton, QB1 @barstoolchicago
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) August 18, 2021
Makes a lot more sense now doesn’t it? That’s exactly why Baker Mayfield was heated about the way the situation was handled and how things were so drastically blown out of proportion. Here’s what the Cleveland Browns quarterback had to say via his Instagram story earlier:
“TYPICAL CLICKBAIT BS REPORTING. QUOTE THE WHOLE INTERVIEW. DON’T PUT THIS AS A HEADLINE TO TRY AND STIR THE POT. SMDH.”
Well said, Baker. Well said. Fields is most likely not going to start for at least a few weeks, and during that time, the offense is going to be under Dalton’s command. That means he needs to be ready to go and prove that he can be a capable starter who, maybe, can hold off Fields for longer than people think.
That’s precisely what Dalton was trying to say in his interview, but as Baker Mayfield said, the narrative was taken in a completely different direction.