What Ryan Griffin Adds to Bears Mix

Asked how Justin Fields compared to some of the other quarterbacks he played with, former Jets and Texans tight end Ryan Griffin punted.

The obvious desired comarison was Deshaun Watson, an extremely mobile, strong-armed passer who was in Houston toward the end of Griffin's time with the Texans.

"Yeah, I don't want to play that game," Griffin said. "I'm not here to give anybody bulletin board material, or anything like that.

"I will say I've played with a lot of quarterbacks over my careerーanybody can look that up, see who I’ve played withーJustin's right there. Right there. I don't think anyone knows exactly how good he can be, but I'm excited. I'm really excited to see what he can do."

For the sake of accuracy and to show Chicago Bears fans they might not be alone in selecting repeatedly from the quarterback sampler over the years, here are the passers Griffin played with since starting his career in 2013 with the Texans:

Matt Schaub, Case Keenum, T.J. Yates, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mallett, Tom Savage, Bryan Hoyer, Brandon Weeden, B.J. Daniels, Brock Osweiler, Watson, Taylor Heinicke, Sam Darnold, Luke Falk, Trevor Siemian, David Fales, Joe Flacco, Zach Wilson, Mike White, Josh Johnson.

Daniels, Heinecke, Johnson and the Bears draft pick, Fales, were the only ones who didn't start games for the Texans or Jets while Griffin was there. But they all played.

Jut a few weeks ago tight end Cole Kmet complained about all the quarterback switches he endured in the last two years with the Bears.

Griffin could easily say, "hey, get in line bub," after he played with so many different starters. 

There were some decent passers on his list, but Griffin thinks his new starting quarterback is the most dialed-in of allーin fact, moreso than any human being he's known.

"He is the most focused individual I've ever been around," Griffin said of Fields. "Determined, hard-working. I don’t see him smiling ever, really, and it's not because he's not having fun out there, but this guy wants to win. It just oozes through every movement he makes out there.

"I'm not a quarterbacks coach, so he tells me what to do, and I try to make his life a little bit easier. Again, another guy I'm really excited to see what he can do."

The other guy he's excited about is the starter at his position, Kmet.

"He's got it all," Griffin said. "It'd be easier for me to say what doesn't he have, because he's got the whole bag.

"He's got the size, he's got the versatility, the athleticism, ball skills, want-to in the run game. He's a helluva player."

The Bears were a rather curious fit for a 32-year-old tight end with 14 TD catches in nine seasons. 

They're more the rookie player type than 30-somethings. In fact, no one on the roster has been around the league longer than Griffin except Robert Quinn. And he's not even at Halas Hall.

"You can see in our roster makeup, I think, we're a younger team, a lot of hungry guys, hard-working guys," Griffin said. "And I think our vision is a hard-working, tough-nosed, cold-weather football team.

"And I pride myself on being a part of some of those (type) teams. I'm happy to be here and try to get this thing right."

Griffin has multiple roles, including special teams and general support.

"My first job is to be a great teammate," Griffin said. "I really try to bring that with me in the building every day and just try to be the same guy every day. Be dependable but at the same time, challenge a lot of these guys, these young guys who may not know what it takes to win in this league.

"I think I can help everybody out here, coaches included. I think that's my purpose here on this team. It may change as we move forward, but right now, I'm focused on being the best teammate I can."

He's been trying to do it with plenty of other teammates and quarterbacks for a decade. 

It's the kind of experience a team can use when more than half the 90-man roster (46) has been in the NFL for two years or less.