Steelers QB Justin Fields got his first start in Pittsburgh on Friday night against the Houston Texans. It may have been only the first preseason game, but it was a chance for Steelers fans to see Fields take on another team for the first time. He completed 5 of his 6 pass attempts for 67 yards, and that lone incompletion came while targeting WR Van Jefferson and could have been challenged. At least, Fields thinks Jefferson got his feet down before he was shoved out of bounds.
But Fields’ night was far from perfect. He had two fumbles during the snap with C Nate Herbig and also was sacked twice. It was certainly a mixed bag. Did Fields’ performance help or hinder his standing in a quarterback competition against QB Russell Wilson?
“The Steelers decided to sit Russell Wilson in their preseason opener and start Fields, giving Fields an opportunity to improve his chances at winning the starting job,” wrote Jeff Kerr in his CBSSports.com article on potential overreactions to Week 1 of the NFL preseason. “The results were a push at best… Giveaways aren’t going to win Fields the job, no matter his big play potential. Fields could have closed the gap on Wilson, but may have damaged his chances of winning it.”
For the record, Kerr titled the Fields section “Justin Fields didn’t lose any ground in the Steelers’ QB battle” and called that an overreaction. He seems to be firmly in the camp that the fumbles and sacks put him further behind Wilson.
Now, that’s completely understandable. Two fumbled exchanges and two sacks in three drives is bad, no way around it. However, Fields isn’t the only one culpable for the bad exchanges. Head coach Mike Tomlin said that both Herbig and Fields were responsible, and Herbig even blamed himself completely.
However, does that one performance wipe out every positive thing Fields has done to this point? Well, one person who is not down and out on Fields is his offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith. When speaking with the media after Monday’s practice, Smith credited Fields for his decisiveness. He did not dismiss the problems, but he thought that Fields did well in his first game action with the Steelers.
So Fields definitely had some up-and-down moments against the Texans. Smith was adamant about the need to clean up the mistakes quickly. So to say that he could have helped his case even more is absolutely true.
But did Fields really hurt himself badly in the competition? The only way that happens is if the same mistakes keep showing up throughout the rest of the preseason. And Ray Fittipaldo says that Fields isn’t letting Wilson show him up throwing the ball during training camp, either. So this competition is still on.
