When Justin Fields woke up this morning, he thought he was going to enter the first training camp practice a few hours later with the second-team offense. It has been no secret that Russell Wilson holds pole position for the starting quarterback job. But at 6:30 a.m. Fields found out that Wilson was dealing with calf tightness, which meant he would be getting the first-team reps at practice today.
He told reporters after practice that he was informed of the change early this morning, per The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly on X.
“I was definitely trying to take advantage of each and every rep that I got today,” Fields said in Kaboly’s video clip. “Looking forward to getting better tomorrow.”
With as many changes as the Steelers’ offense has undergone this offseason, Fields’ opportunities to run with the first-team unit may be few and far between when Wilson is healthy. They only have so much time to make sure the offense is ready for the regular season, so the starter needs as many reps as possible.
That makes this first day of Fields getting all the reps all the more important for him. He got to show the team right away what he is capable of. From some of the reporting by Alex Kozora on X, he showed off his deep ball on a few different occasions.
Fields’ two best traits as a quarterback are his deep passing abilities and his athleticism. Everything else, like the intermediate routes, seeing the field, and getting the ball out on time, still needs clarification. Still, it is nice to see that his arm is as advertised right from the start of training camp.
He told reporters during the spring practices that he didn’t come to Pittsburgh to sit on the bench all season. He fully intends to compete, and this gave him his first big chance to do so. Beyond just his preparation for the 2024 season, these reps give the Steelers’ brass more chances to evaluate him as a possible option at quarterback for 2025 and beyond.
“I felt alright,” Fields said in a video posted by Pittsburgh-Post Gazette on YouTube. “Of course it wasn’t perfect. There’s always room to imrpove, but I felt alright. I missed George [Pickens]…Got some good reps in today for sure.”
Wilson was reportedly labeled day-to-day by Mike Tomlin with calf tightness. We will see if he suits up for practice tomorrow. If not, that will be a great start to training camp for Fields. One man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity.
