Dalton has witty retort to fans who booed in first half originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Believe it or not, Bears fans seem to be getting tired of watching Andy Dalton during preseason games. Midway through the first half of the team’s match against the Bills, they decided to vocalize that too. After one Dalton sack in the second quarter, Bears fans throughout Soldier Field showered the team in boos. Here and there chants of “We want Fields” could be heard.
Those boos and chants calling for Justin Fields to sub in for Dalton could be heard on the field too. But just like he has all offseason, Dalton took the chilly reception from fans in stride.
“You know, it’s part of it,” Dalton said. “They wanna see a good product out there.”
For at least one drive, Dalton did put a good product on the field. He hit Rodney Adams with a great deep ball, and Adams delivered with a 79-yard touchdown. Things quieted down after that, and Dalton took notice of that too.
“I didn’t hear any boos after the touchdown pass that I threw,” Dalton said. “So hopefully they’ll be cheering a lot.”
Dalton’s cheeky response is a great example of how he’s continued to brush off the negative attention he’s gotten from fans. But his teammate, and eventual successor Justin Fields didn’t take the fans’ jeering quite as well.
“I really think it’s kind of disrespectful to Andy, them cheering my name out like that,” Fields said. “Just cheer him on, you know? That's not helping Andy play better, to cheer my name. That’s not doing none of that.
“My advice to them would be just cheer whoever’s on the field.”
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
The Bears have one preseason game left and it’s still unclear how much work Fields will get with the starting unit, if he gets any work with them at all. But one thing’s for sure, if Fields has even one series with the starters, or if Dalton can get out to a quick start instead of more three-and-outs, Bears fans will have plenty to cheer about.
Click here to follow the Under Center Podcast.
