Bears WR Byron Pringle: ‘Justin Fields comes to play’

Byron Pringle has spent his NFL career living a wide receiver’s dream — for four seasons in Kansas City, Patrick Mahomes was his quarterback.

Pringle’s new passer — Bears second-year player Justin Fields — isn’t Mahomes. No one is. But the team’s newest wide receiver thinks that Fields, like Mahomes before him, will enable him to get open.

“I see [Fields] as an elite quarterback,” Pringle said Sunday shortly after the Bears officially signed him. “He keeps his legs alive and he definitely knows how to extend plays. And that is something that I did in Kansas City — when the play broke down, I always tried to find, get in the quarterback’s vision.

“So with him being able to keep plays and drives alive, I know I fit perfectly in this offense, especially with a quarterback like Justin Fields.”

Ryan Poles — who spent a third of his life in the Chiefs front office before becoming the Bears’ general manager in January — thinks so. He gave Pringle a one-year, $4 million guaranteed deal worth up to $6 million overall with hopes he can capitalize off a career year. Pringle caught 42 passes for 568 yards during the regular season last year and starred in the playoffs, catching three touchdowns in three games.

“It’s speed over there, you know?” Pringle said.

The Bears, whose receiving corps has been woefully slow in recent years, are banking that Pringle can stretch the field. He ran a 4.46-second 40-yard dash at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine before the Chiefs signed him as an undrafted free agent.

Poles likes Pringle’s toughness and dependability. Asked what he thought his new boss saw in him during their time in Kansas City, the 6-1, 201-pounder was direct.

“Somebody that would come to work every day ready to compete at a high level and just have that mentality, that 1-0 mentality of coming to win,” he said. “I don’t care about no numbers. I want that letter at the end of the game, that W.”

Pringle wasn’t the only familiar face the Bears signed Sunday. They brought back safety and special teams stalwart DeAndre Houston-Carson on a one-year deal. Houston intercepted one pass, recovered two fumbles and started the first three games of his career on defense last year.

Two days after agreeing to a contract, the Bears also signed run-stopping defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad, who’d spent the last four years playing under Colts defensive coordinator — and now new Bears head coach — Matt Eberflus.

The Bears already have four former Colts defensive assistants on staff. Muhammad’s addition means that at least one player on the Bears roster will be able to teach Eberflus’ 4-3 defense and “H.I.T.S.” system to his teammates.

“The appreciation I have for Coach Eberflus is the love that he has for the game,” said Muhammad, who had a career-high six sacks and started every game last year. “He’s the same guy every day. High-energy guy. He brings the juice. Nobody wants to win more than Eberflus and I think a lot of people around here are going to see that. We’re all in this business to win. To win a Super Bowl. He’s going to give you his all.”

The Bears are nowhere near a Super Bowl. The fastest way to get there is for Fields to make a major leap. Pringle is ready to see it.

“I can’t speak for every man — but I come to play,” he said. “I’m pretty sure, like you’ve seen on film, Justin Fields comes to play.”

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