The Pittsburgh Steelers dropped their preseason opener to the Houston Texans, 20-12, and while starting QB Justin Fields didn’t lead any scoring drives, it was a good experience for him to get snaps in a game environment with a new team in a new offense. After the game, Fields told reporters that it was good for him to have “in-game experience’ with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and quarterbacks coach Tom Arth.
“I mean, you can kind of get a feel on what Arthur’s thinking, how he goes about the game, how he just communicates with you on the sidelines and stuff like that. So that was good, just being with him and kind of having a real in-game experience with them, and of course all the coaches, Tom, and stuff like that. So just the whole process of everything, just kind of getting used to everything, but I think the overall process went well and the logistics of everything went well,” Fields said via audio provided by the team’s PR department
While the results weren’t always there, Fields didn’t have a bad game, going 5-of-6 for 67 yards, but two sacks and a fumbled snap that lost four yards killed drives. But it’s valuable for a quarterback to know how his offensive coaches are going to operate in a game setting. While Fields has been working with Arth and Smith since the team acquired him in March, today was the first time he really got to see how they operate when going up against a live opponent. That’s good experience so going forward, Fields will know what to expect and have a better feel for the process.
There’s obviously going to be a little bit of an adjustment period working with new coaches and a new offense with a new team. Fields isn’t alone in learning a new offense as Smith was also brought aboard this offseason, as was Arth. So while Fields is new to the Steelers, he’s in the same boat as the rest of the guys when it comes to learning about how Smith is going to approach games as an offensive coordinator.
It’s why getting these preseason reps can be so valuable. Even though Russell Wilson is still expected to be Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback, the reps that Fields got today is going to help him going forward and make things a little more streamlined next time he’s running the show at quarterback.
