Fourth-year quarterback Justin Fields is generating quite a bit of buzz through the first four days of training camp for the Pittsburgh Steelers at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe.
Taking advantage of the QB1 opportunity with veteran Russell Wilson out due to a calf injury suffered in the conditioning test while pushing a sled, Fields has had some flashes with the first-team offense early in training camp.
He’s thrown some nice deep balls, hooked up for big plays with some new faces, and has flashed his mobility at times.
He’s also had some real struggles, too, including a rough day on Sunday after Seven Shots. He threw the first interception of camp and struggled with his accuracy and decision-making.
While there is real buzz regarding Fields right now and him potentially turning the QB situation in Pittsburgh into a real competition thanks to the opportunity afforded to him by Wilson’s injury, the Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo believes that Fields still has a lot of work to do.
“He threw a pick yesterday to Donte Jackson. Probably should have had another pick that was dropped. Sprinkled in, he’s had some really good throws, too. So, basically everything we heard about Justin Fields I think has come to fruition,” Fittipaldo said during an appearance on the Post-Gazette’s North Shore Drive podcast Monday morning. “I think there’s a lot of talent there, but I think the coaches really have to work to get him stabilized, get his feet on the ground to turn him into a bona fide starting quarterback in the NFL.”
When the Steelers acquired him via trade from the Chicago Bears for a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the belief was that Fields would sit behind Wilson, reset from an NFL perspective and rebuild from the ground up in a stable environment under good coaching from head coach Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith.
Though that thought process hasn’t changed much, Fields is seeing QB1 snaps right now in training camp, giving him a chance to show what he can do. Some of it is eye-opening; some of it is concerning.
As Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora wrote in his camp notes Sunday coming out of camp, Fields had a good start to the day in Seven Shots, but then was shaky.
“Justin Fields looked really good in 7 shots. In open-field drill work, he was far shakier and stacked bad plays,” Kozora wrote.
That largely summarizes Fields as an NFL player to date. He’ll look otherworldly in some moments, but then he can spiral and get into bad habits and make mistakes.
His interception to Jackson was a duck of a throw that was wobbly and hung in the air far too long, allowing the veteran cornerback to make a play.
Prior to Sunday’s practice, Kozora was of the same mindset that Fittipaldo had two days later. Coming out of the first two days of training camp with Fields being the major talking point, Kozora put his thoughts together for Steelers Depot and had this to say:
“But so far, Justin Fields has been as advertised. Wow moments with his arm downfield. Needing to clean things up on underneath throws.”
That’s who Fields is. That’s who he’s been his entire career. The skill set is so tantalizing, but he has work to do. He’s a guy you certainly bet on with that skill set and overall traits, but some flashes in training camp and clips on social media don’t tell the full story.
There’s a lot of work left to do with Fields. The coaching staff has its work cut out with him. If they can figure it out with Fields though, they might have a franchise-caliber quarterback acquired on the cheap.
