Chicago Bears Justin Fields Calls Detroit Lions Alex Anzalone Dirty Player

The Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears have a heated rivalry within the NFC North division. Each team won at their respective home stadiums in 2023, splitting the season series.

With the season over, Bears' quarterback Justin Fields made an appearance on 'The St. Brown Bros.' a podcast on The 33rd Team hosted by Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and his brother Equanimeous. 

The trio had a playful back and forth when discussing officiating, as Fields pointed out the Lions for playing more physical and sometimes after the whistle. 

"Y'all play harder than most teams," Fields said. "I will say that, y'all play harder and through the whistle, and y'all got some dirty players on your team, I'm not gonna cap." 

"No we don't," said Amon-Ra St. Brown. "Who's dirty?"

Fields called out Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone, who has led the team in tackles for the last two seasons. 

"34 bro, Anzalone, bro," Fields replied. "He be doing a little bit too much extra stuff for me, dog. I'm cool with the competitive, I'm cool with that. But all the extra stuff, like I'm cool with all that. Tackle me and get up." 

St. Brown defended his teammate by explaining that he displays the team's signature trait of grit and plays hard.

Equanimeous, who is Fields' teammate on the Bears, also singled out a hit delivered by Julian Okwara on one of his teammates as unnecessary. The teammates agreed upon their assessment of the Lions' defense. 

"Even out of bounds and (expletive)," Fields said. "I've got to make sure I run three, four yards out of bounds because y'all still trying to push me when I'm going out of bounds. Just doing too much, stuff like that."

While defending that his teammates don't play dirty, the Lions' wideout admitted that the team is coached to play physical and until the whistle blows within the legalities of the game. 

"I'm not even gonna lie, bro," Amon-Ra St. Brown said. "Dan be in the meetings, quarterbacks -- he would show clips of teams that we're playing against and if the quarterback is one step still in bounds, he'd be like, 'Hit him.' It's legal. He wants you to play, toe the line, like if his foot is still in bounds and the other foot's about to not even touch out of bounds, hit him. You've still got to hit him. But then you get a flag in the game and you're like, 'Why are we hitting the (expletive) quarterback?' But they're like, 'Hey, that's what we're taught.'" 

Before moving on to another topic, Fields acknowledged the toughness of the Lions' defense.

"Y'all play different, I've got to give it to y'all," Fields explained. "Y'all play tough." 

Fields' future

Fields is facing an uncertain future entering the offseason. The Bears have the top selection in April's Draft and many believe they will use it on USC quarterback Caleb Williams. 

The Ohio State product recently unfollowed the Chicago Bears on Instagram, which caused a stir. Amon-Ra St. Brown asked him about that decision, and Fields explained that he didn't want to see the discourse about his future on social media. 

Fields also added that he wants to remain in Chicago and remain playing in the NFC North going forward.

"Yeah, of course I want to stay. To be honest, bro, I'm trying to, like, with all the talk it's hard to, I guess, boom, be in one place," Fields explained. "But I can't see myself playing in another place. I know how the league is, EQ you were probably the same way before you left Green Bay. If it was up to me, I would want to stay in Chicago. I love the city, the city's lit, the fans, they're great and the people. But it's a business, I ain't got no control over it."