One of the big stories from today’s training camp practice was the fight that broke out after Elandon Roberts tackled Justin Fields to the ground during one of the team sessions towards the end of practice. Roberts took no exception with the offense retaliating, but he did speak a bit about why the hit may have happened in the first place.
Roberts was asked after practice if Fields is difficult to cover outside the pocket.
“Big time,” Roberts said in a clip posted by YardBarker’s Aaron Becker on X. “It’s not the first year that myself or you guys have seen Justin Fields, man. Outside the pocket, this guy’s a problem. Inside the pocket, he’s a problem. You’ve seen the type of throws he’s capable of making. The type of throws he is making in practice…That other dynamic of him running like he do, you be like, ‘Golly.’ He’s that type of guy that’s always gonna keep you on your toes.”
As Ben Roethlisberger’s career was winding down and quarterbacks like Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson were starting to emerge, Mike Tomlin started talking a lot about the importance of quarterback mobility in today’s game. It adds a dynamic to an offense that you can’t get otherwise. Whether that is the ability to extend plays and escape pressure while keeping eyes down the field for a pass, or tucking the ball and running, it is one extra thing that defenses have to worry about.
The Steelers have plenty of experience working against these types of quarterbacks. They play Lamar Jackson twice a year (when healthy) and have done as good a job as any defense in containing him. But the same can’t be said about many other defenses around the league. Fields, and Russell Wilson to a lesser extent, both have that dimension to their game.
In a separate video posted by Becker, Roberts said that Fields’ athletic ability “helps us a lot” in preparing against the many mobile quarterbacks they will face in 2024. That list includes Jackson, Mahomes, Hurts, Anthony Richardson, Dak Prescott, Jayden Daniels, and Deshaun Watson. The majority of their games are against quarterbacks with mobility.
Fields will be a great tool for the Steelers to use to prepare against those teams, and he will also give them the ability to fight fire with fire in specialized packages. That will force defenses to use practice time on those packages and put the Steelers in an attacking posture where they are capable of mixing things up.
Perhaps more than ever, the Steelers have the inside linebacker talent necessary to combat these mobile quarterbacks with Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson, and Roberts. And now they will have proper preparation working against Fields in practice every day.
