The Pittsburgh Steelers are getting a long look at QB Justin Fields, all thanks to Russell Wilson’s calf. The 12-year veteran injured it during the team’s conditioning test, leaving the younger Fields to run the offense. He has gotten better and more consistent as the practice days wear on, which is what offensive coordinator Arthur Smith wanted to see.
Really, Smith, and the Steelers, just wanted to see more of Justin Fields, for a very obvious reason. Russell Wilson has way more experience, or “way more of a known commodity”, as he put it to Jori Epstein for Yahoo Sports.
“Justin is at such a different part of his career, but they both had big moments in this league”, Smith said of Fields. “You’ve got a competition going on, you get two guys fighting it out, but you’re also building the big picture. … So that’s why you got to evaluate”.
Russell Wilson is in his 13th NFL season, best known for his decade in Seattle, including a Super Bowl ring. Justin Fields is in his fourth season, a former first-round pick whom the Chicago Bears couldn’t surround with winning players. They moved on, trading him and drafting Caleb Williams with the first-overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
All of this was a major curve ball for Arthur Smith, who took the job with Kenny Pickett at quarterback. Initially, the Steelers seemed content to re-sign Mason Rudolph and let them compete. But then the Broncos released Russell Wilson, precipitating the Pickett trade—precipitating the Justin Fields trade.
So now Arthur Smith is coaching Russell Wilson and Justin Fields instead of Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph. And just from being around the league, he knows a lot more about Wilson than Fields.
Because Wilson knows a lot more than Fields, and he’s more than happy to help out. But with Wilson mostly on the sideline, Smith is getting long and high-quality exposure to Fields. It hasn’t all been smooth, but as mentioned, things have progressively gotten better.
Even Epstein claims in her article that “This isn’t a true quarterback battle”, even if the Steelers might take issue. Arthur Smith even said that Justin Fields and Russell Wilson are “fighting it out”, though there hasn’t been much of a fight yet since Wilson hasn’t been available.
How much longer will Wilson sit out nearly all 11-on-11 work? How much ground has Fields made up during this first week of training camp practices? If the Steelers didn’t view this as a true competition, has he changed anybody’s minds? Where does Arthur Smith see Justin Fields in his offense? I don’t know that even he knows that, but he certainly knows more than he did a week ago.
