It was neither a good performance nor a bad performance for quarterback Justin Fields in his debut for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday in the preseason opener against the Houston Texans.
What it was, though, was average, with some positive signs and some negative signs. He didn’t stand out in any major way, nor did he fall flat. Ultimately, he didn’t do enough to truly push for the starting job, at least right now in the Steel City, in what is very much a QB competition.
He’ll have more opportunities to do so, but in a first look, it wasn’t needle-moving.
That makes him a “loser” for CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin coming out of Week One of the preseason.
“Was he ‘bad’ in his live-action Pittsburgh Steelers debut? Not necessarily,” Benjamin writes regarding Fields for CBSSports.com. “But after an offseason trailing Russell Wilson, desperate to shed his reputation as a turnover-prone starter from Chicago, two fumbled snaps isn’t going to vault him ahead in the quarterback competition.
“The one thing he needs is to protect the ball, which he did not cleanly do.”
One of the biggest knocks on Justin Fields coming over from the Chicago Bears via trade was his struggles with ball security. In his first three seasons in the NFL, Fields has 30 interceptions and 38 fumbles. Astronomical numbers.
On Friday against the Texans, he had trouble with ball security, specifically with receiving the snap cleanly from center Nate Herbig twice. Though the Steelers recovered both fumbled snaps, it set the offense back, resulting in two drives that led to punts.
While the blame falls on both Herbig and Fields, it was another example in a long list of them that Fields has issues with ball security.
Outside of the fumbled snaps, Justin Fields had some moments. He showed off his arm and accuracy on a 20-yard strike to Van Jefferson off of play-action and his ability to change arm angles and throw a bullet to George Pickens on a screen around a defender to pick up 16 yards.
He also showed off his wheels, turning a second and long into a third and short. But, in the end, he held onto the football too long in the pocket twice and took drive-ending sacks, leading to some frustrations in his Steelers debut.
There’s still a long way to go for Fields in his push for the starting job. He has all the tools, but he’s going to need to find consistency in-stadium in the Black and Gold. Friday’s performance showed why he might not be the answer for the starting QB in 2024 — at least right away.
