FRISCO, Texas – When Matt Eberflus arrived in Chicago for his first NFL head coaching job in 2022, the franchise had a quarterback in place for him: Justin Fields, who was drafted 11th overall in the previous year's draft out of Ohio State.
Fast forward three years later, and the two are getting ready to face off against one another in Week 5. Eberflus as the defensive coordinator with the Cowboys, and Fields as the starting quarterback for the Jets.
Eberflus knows that the prime objective for Dallas' defense is keeping his former signal caller in check.
"Containing Justin Fields is the issue," Eberflus said. "He's a heck of an athlete. I was with him for a few years [in Chicago], and he's a heck of a young man. He's got explosive ability to come out of there, I believe we led the league in rushing because there were a lot of scrambles out of the pocket."
"We have to do a great job setting up our defensive unit for that and for those scrambles."
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer shared a similar sentiment on the 26-year-old earlier in the week.
"He presents a number of problems just based on the skill set," Schottenheimer said. "The athleticism, arm strength, arm talent, ability to improvise... The good news for us is no one knows him around the league probably better than Matt [Eberflus]."
Eberflus isn't the only person in the Cowboys organization that has a good feel for Fields' game. Defensive tackle Kenny Clark has played him several times during the NFC North divisional matchups between the Bears and Packers during Clark's time in Green Bay.
"The main thing was just trying to contain him," Clark said of how he approached playing Fields in the past. "But, I mean, he's got a hell of an arm too. So we've got to do a good job of rushing him, but also just being smart when we rush him."
Fields currently has the second-most rushing yards by a quarterback in the NFL this season with 178, a single yard behind Jalen Hurts with 17 less carries.
The ability Fields has to use his legs as a weapon rather than to just buy time and pick up a few yards is unique in NFL history. Fields is one of just three quarterbacks ever to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, going for 1,143 on the ground in Eberflus' first season as head coach in Chicago.
Following that 2022 season, Fields would go on to have three different offensive coordinators over the next three years, for three different teams and three different head coaches. That's a lot of change for a quarterback to go through, and Eberflus has seen him handle the nuances well.
"It's hard when you move place to place and you learn different systems. I think that's always difficult," Eberflus said. "But he's doing a good job with getting the ball out in the quick game, I think he's doing a good job with that. He's done a really good job of learning that new offense, that's a whole new thing for him."
Even though Fields and Eberflus only spent two years together, Eberflus enjoyed going to work with him and seeing how he approached his preparation.
"He's just a joy to be around," Eberflus said. "He really is. He's always positive, upbeat, always onto the next thing, always looking to improve. He's the first guy in the building, last guy to leave. He's a consummate pro."
So, how does Eberflus and the Cowboys defense prepare for that kind of a dual-threat quarterback? Luckily, they feel they've got a pretty good version of a similar play style on the scout team: Joe Milton.
"He's like a running gazelle out there," Eberflus said of Milton. "He fits the bill pretty good."
The real thing is coming up in just a few days for the Cowboys on the road, as they look to get back in the win column. In two meetings against the Cowboys in his career, Fields is 0-2 but has thrown for 282 yards and four touchdowns, as well as rushed for 87 more yards and an additional touchdown.
