For Justin Fields and the Bears, 2022 is crucial.

It’s his second year in the league and the season where he can take steps and go from a novice signal caller to a dynamic quarterback in the NFL.

So how does he accomplish that?

It all starts on the practice field for former Bear Dan Hampton.

“Justin Fields will be so much better prepared this season because of the practice tempo,” Hampton said on “Bear Essentials.” “They’re doing things almost at game-speed, whereas the last year’s regime didn’t wanna do that.”

Fields’ maturation will progress as he continues to have games and moments under his belt. He already has the intangible aspect down, according to Bears running back David Montgomery.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anybody with as much composure as him,” Montgomery told Cole Wright, Tom Thayer and Hampton on “Bear Essentials.” “As young as he is in the league and being able to have some composure and not really get too high or too low, it’s impressive. You want to follow suit with that. If your quarterback’s calm when things go wrong or things start to not go your way, then everybody else can follow suit and be calm as well.

“You play better when you’re calm and you know what you gotta do and you’re in a great headspace. Justin being able to do that is very impressive for me to see and I’m super excited to see. He’s super special. It’s gonna be fun to watch.”

The excitement will build if the Bears continue to script an offensive gameplan that suits his strength, like they did in the preseason. Fields finished the exhibition slate going 23-for-30 with 243 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. In 2021, he threw 7 touchdowns to 10 interceptions in the regular season with a 58.9 completion percentage.

The offense under new coordinator Luke Getsy has shown a willingness to use Fields’ mobility and ability to create plays to effectiveness this preseason.

“One thing about Justin Fields is the development of the relationship with Luke Getsy,” Thayer said. “Luke understands his assets, his traits and his escapability in the pocket.

“When there is a little bit of pressure on him, there is no panic. It’s escape the pocket [and] find your receiver down field. Everything Justin can do outside of the pocket is gonna help the development of the offensive line, help the development of the receiver position and put Justin into that comfort zone that we need to see him get into.”