Training camp has a golden rule: Don’t touch the quarterback. Most teams put red jerseys on their franchise arms so everyone knows who is off-limits at all times. Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Elandon Roberts broke that rule.
In one of the rarest moments you’ll see in training camp, Roberts knocked down QB Justin Fields at the end of a read-option run, leading the Steelers offensive line to respond with an all-out skirmish. Looking back on the moment, Roberts explained why he did it.
“Before I started that fight with J-Fields, I only started it because [Patrick Queen] was in it with the offensive line,” Roberts said on Cam Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast. “So I was just like, ‘Alright bro, watch this.'”
During the fifth and final team period, Roberts and Queen ramped up the intensity. While Roberts’ hit was the moment of the day, perhaps the moment of camp, Queen got tempers flaring two plays earlier. As noted in our day six diary, Queen had a late hit on RB Najee Harris, leading the O-line to respond.
“No full tackling, but Harris shows off his power, trucking through CB Donte Jackson en route to a strong run of about 12. Harris was taken to the ground at the end — I think Patrick Queen got him from behind — and it led to a skirmish with a heated and helmet-less Nate Herbig.”
Two plays later, Roberts threw a shoulder into Fields at the end of carrying out his read option, sending him rolling into the ground. Though he described it as a “love tap,” the offensive line took exception to the hit, with rookies OT Troy Fautanu and Mason McCormick leading the charge. In seconds, half the team was involved in the scrum, with a couple of literal punches thrown before the coaching staff finally got control of the situation.
“We’re gonna protect the quarterback always,” McCormick said after practice that day.
Elandon Roberts and Patrick Queen set the ton of camp throughout camp. Later in the week, they jawed with Jaylen Warren and Harris during one of the most intense backs-on-‘backers drill in recent memory. Harris and Queen threw each other down on one rep while Warren won against Roberts in a rep that led to another scrum.
While Roberts didn’t explicitly say this was Tomlin’s response to his hit on Fields, he later described how Tomlin reacts when Roberts tries to push boundaries.
“I’ll do something and be like, ‘Dang, I’m about to get chewed for this. And then Mike T would be like, ‘Ah, I love it. But don’t do that again. I really like that petty shit.'”
Pittsburgh’s training camps are unique as it is one of the few, if not the only, teams to have live tackling sessions. Most teams opt to play it safe and have “thud” tackling practices, wrapping up but never leaving your feet or going to the ground. But Mike Tomlin loves to describe it as “boxing without sparring” and the need to tackle and hit before trying to do it inside a stadium. Throughout camp, Roberts and Queen brought a big pair of boxing gloves.
Check out Heyward’s full camp episode below.
