Russell Wilson missed the first four practices of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp with a tweaked calf muscle, giving Justin Fields extensive first-team quarterback reps. Wilson returned to practice on a limited basis Tuesday, but Fields still took the majority of meaningful snaps, and he looked as good as ever, according to reports from training camp.
Wilson easing into full practice is more precautionary than anything else, and he said today that it was “the plan the whole time.” However, Mark Kaboly, the Steelers senior writer for The Athletic, believes that easing Wilson along may be a strategic move to get a better look at Fields before deciding whether to extend his contract before the season starts.
Kaboly joined the Pat McAfee Show this afternoon, and he discussed Fields taking first-team reps with Wilson injured.
“I think this might be partly to get Justin Fields some work to see what he looks like at this point because they might have to make a decision [in] another month if they want to extend him,” Kaboly said. “Fields has progressively gotten better. He was struggling early on with his accuracy. Now, especially today, they’ve incorporated a lot of his legs into the fray here…A lot of run plays, play-action plays, bootlegs. And he obviously looked very good right there, but I still don’t think Russell’s in jeopardy of losing the starting job at all.”
The Steelers obviously didn’t wish for Wilson to get injured, but the silver lining may be that the Steelers are getting a much better look at Fields, who could be their quarterback of the future if he continues to improve. Arthur Smith has tailored certain plays around Fields, allowing him to run in read options and roll-out in play-action situations against the first-team defense. Fields is one of the most explosive running quarterbacks in the NFL, capable of flipping games with massive breakaway runs. The biggest concern regarding his play has always been his accuracy.
Fields struggled with accuracy during OTAs, generating some overreactions from the NFL media. It’s encouraging to hear that he’s looking much more confident in training camp and that his accuracy is steadily improving as he gets acclimated to Smith’s offense and his new receiving room. Clearly spring practice performances should be taken with a grain of salt.
While Fields has stood out in Wilson’s absence, Kaboly emphasized that the tide hasn’t shifted much, and Wilson should still firmly be the Week 1 starter.
“I think this is an opportunity to get Justin Fields a lot of work early in camp because when Russell comes back, you know, second-team reps aren’t nearly the same as first team reps,” Kaboly said. “[Regarding] the ‘pole position,’ you could say what you want to say, [but] I don’t think they brought Russell Wilson here to be the backup.”
