Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields took a bit of a beating against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football. He continues to struggle to draw roughing-the-passer calls despite the NFL typically doing all it can to protect quarterbacks, and he took a dirty shot to the head from Eric Kendricks while sliding to finish a run. That did draw a flag and an ejection.

At one point in the game, Bears rookie offensive tackle Teven Jenkins had seen enough. After a rather unnecessary hit on Fields, Jenkins took it upon himself to stand up for his quarterback. There was a scuffle, with Jenkins getting flagged on the play after retaliating to a sucker punch.

After the game, Fields expressed his gratitude for how his fellow rookie came to his defense, per Adam Hoge of NBC Sports Chicago:

“I told (Teven) I liked what he did there and I appreciate him,” Fields said. “At the same time, he’s gotta be smart. But I mean, I definitely love the mindset and I love him sticking up for me. I think that’s what we need more of. I love it, but just do it between the whistle.”

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The Bears were a train wreck in their 17-9 loss, with a number of undisciplined penalties and failures in the red zone. While Fields acknowledged that he'd rather have his players stick up for him between the whistles so as not to draw penalties, he still appreciated the mindset. And, at some point, sometimes it's not the worst thing in the world to get a penalty if it ultimately helps the quarterback in the long run.

This entire rookie season has been a struggle for Fields, for a number of reasons. He has shown his immense talent on occasions, but his ball security has been an issue and his decision-making still needs a lot of improvement. Of course, he's also dealing with limited talented around him and a coaching staff that's on its way out, so there's a lot of blame to go around for this mess.

Fields still has a ton of potential and could very well be the guy who turns this Bears franchise around. They need to make sure he stays upright, though.