Justin Fields made some nice plays in his first preseason game for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it’s hard to say if his performance will prompt the Steelers to change their quarterback lineup.
Fields got the chance to start as Russell Wilson was recovering from an injury, and some of his better plays were overshadowed by mistakes. There were two fumbles on snaps. Fields had two sacks on third down. He played one quarter and the Steelers didn’t score. Fields hasn’t been a bad start, but he probably needs a strong preseason to pressure the Steelers into considering him for Week 1, and Friday night’s game against the Houston Texans was less than great.
Wilson signed with the Steelers, and then the wheels began to turn that led to Fields becoming a Steeler as well. Kenny Pickett reportedly did not take well to the signing of Wilson, which led to Pittsburgh trading him to the Philadelphia Eagles. This opened up a roster spot, and the Chicago Bears offered Fields with Caleb Williams set to come aboard in the NFL Draft. The Bears traded Fields to Pittsburgh for a conditional sixth-round pick, but Wilson has been the declared starter since his signing.
Perhaps that has changed somewhat since training camp began. Wilson suffered a calf injury that kept him out of the early sessions, and the injury was the reason he didn’t play Friday night. If there is indeed such a thing as a true quarterback competition, Fields had the first opportunity of the preseason to make an impact.
Fields immediately showed his athleticism. On the first play, he was pressured by Texans defensive end Danielle Hunter after a play-action fake. Fields stopped and threw a sidearm throw to Najee Harris, who caught the ball and ran it 16 yards. It should have been a sack, but Fields let something happen.
The first drive stalled, primarily because a center-quarterback exchange between Fields and Nate Herbig resulted in a 4-yard loss on a first-down snap. However, Fields completed all three of his attempts for 37 yards on that drive.
The Steelers had another snap fumble by the center quarterback early in the second drive, which they again recovered. No one wanted to see Fields’ season debut with the Steelers interrupted by those unforced errors. The second drive ended three-and-out when rookie first-round pick Troy Fautanu was beaten at right tackle by Hunter, who sacked Fields. Zach Frazier, the team’s second-round pick, replaced Herbig at center for the third drive.
As Fields watched after the second drive, Texans quarterback CJ Stroud reminded everyone why he is already one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL with a beautiful pass to Tank Dell. Dell used some nifty moves to get into the end zone and score a touchdown.
The Steelers want that kind of offense. Fields had some strong moments. A good pass to Van Jefferson went for 20 yards on Pittsburgh’s third drive. But the fumbles were a problem, as were the sacks. Fields took two sacks on third downs, and that was not a good sign considering one of the criticisms of his game is that he keeps the ball in the pocket too long and takes too many sacks. Both of these led to Steelers punts.
Fields’ final stats were good. He completed 5 of 6 passes for 67 yards. His incomplete pass looked like a miscue on the field; Jefferson appeared to have both feet in the field, but Pittsburgh didn’t contest the call. But the lack of a scoring drive, with all three drives stalling due to errors, doesn’t look good.
Fields will get more chances this preseason. Pittsburgh didn’t seem to take the possibility of Fields starting ahead of Wilson in the opener too seriously, and Fields will have to play much better if he wants to pull that off.
