Justin Fields know his work is far from over, but he’s already feeling at home in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense. Despite being with his new team for less than three months and going through just three weeks of practices, Fields feels he has a good grasp on the Steelers’ playbook. Still, he’s looking to improve day by day.
“I’m comfortable,” he said via Yardbarker’s Aaron Becker. “Of course, I’m not fully there yet. Working each and every day to get more and more comfortable, for sure.”
In a sense, it “helps” that Fields had two coordinators in three seasons with Chicago. First, Fields learned under Bill Lazor before he was replaced by Luke Getsy, who survived two years before being shown the door shortly before Fields. Because of those changes, Fields has already gone through picking up a playbook and adjusting to a new coach and system, making the switch to Pittsburgh and working under OC Arthur Smith familiar territory. Ideally, Fields will be able to settle into a system if he and Smith stay with Pittsburgh long-term (Fields is set to be a free agent after the season).
For the here and now, the sooner Fields gets comfortable, the better. While he and the team compete every day, OTAs are for installing the nuts and bolts of the system. It’s less competition and more self-improvement. Once training camp rolls around, the coaches will be in evaluation mode as they determine if Fields should push Russell Wilson for playing time. Wilson is likely to win the starting job, but Fields could have a package of plays to utilize his dynamic athleticism, even if some insiders downplay the idea.
“There’s a lot of the same concepts, it’s just different terminology,” Fields said via Steelers.com of the new playbook.
While Fields’ career has been spotty, no one has questioned his work ethic. He comes to Pittsburgh with the mentality to start and stabilize his career. By all accounts, he’ll be at his best when the summer rolls around. Knowing he’ll be facing second-string defenses, Fields will probably make plays and generate buzz once training camp begins.
