MIAMI — As he watched Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields set an NFL record against his team’s defense, Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel figured he could try something unconventional to get him to stop.
He asked him nicely.
Fields ran for 178 yards in the Bears’ 35-32 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday, a league record for a quarterback in a single game. Midway through the third quarter, television cameras caught McDaniel’s lighthearted exchange with Fields.
“I just wanted him to stop scrambling and it was pretty irritating because he didn’t listen at all. He didn’t take the coaching,” McDaniel explained Monday. “I think Justin is really starting to get a feel for when he can utilize his full scale of gifts and he’s making plays more and more and becoming more and more difficult to defend. So at that stage of the game I figured no one had asked him to stop it, so I gave that a try.
“I think other coaches can learn from my experience that he does not listen, so rely on other tactics.”
The Dolphins had high praise for Fields after Sunday’s performance. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill said after the game he didn’t know Fields was that fast, while linebacker Jaelan Phillips called Fields “a monster.”
McDaniel’s plea to Fields may have fallen on deaf ears but it didn’t slow the Dolphins down en route to their third straight victory to keep them in the AFC playoff hunt.
