Throughout his first three seasons in the NFL, quarterback Justin Fields has experienced ups and downs. He’s flashed his arm talent and his abilities as a runner, recording a 1,000-yard rushing season in 2022.
But with all of those highs, there have been some lows, including some maddening struggles with ball security. Through his first three seasons, he threw 30 interceptions and recorded 38 fumbles. Those ball security issues, along with struggles in the pocket from a timing and processing perspective, have followed him to Pittsburgh.
Those issues reared their ugly heads in the preseason opener against the Houston Texans. Fields had two fumbled center-quarterback snap exchanges with Nate Herbig and then held onto the ball a bit longer than he should have, taking two sacks in the process.
For many analysts, Fields’ performance against the Texans was much the same as it’s always been for Fields: some flashes, but the same issues popping up over and over again.
ESPN’s Louis Riddick, though, is tired of the Fields criticism. Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up! Wednesday morning, Riddick pushed back on the criticism of Fields.
“…I’m saying in general that this guy takes more crap from people, as far as them constantly trying to blow holes in his game to where now they’re sitting there going — and I’ve seen some of the discourse on this — this is why he shouldn’t start, this is why Russ should start,” Riddick said of Fields, according to video via ESPN. “I mean it’s just, to me, it’s annoying that we pinpoint certain people to hang this kind of stuff up on.
“To me, this won’t cost Justin the job, but this is what we all know. Ball security is very important in the NFL at this position. I think Justin is in, he’s in this tsunami of just criticism. Any little thing now we look at him and say, ‘ugh, well, makes sense.”
Coming out of that preseason opener against the Texans, there was some criticism for Fields, even after completing 5-of-6 passes for 67 yards. Much of it was levied at the fumbled snap exchanges and the two sacks that he took.
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky and The Athletic’s Chase Daniel, both former NFL quarterbacks in their own right, had some criticism for Fields due to the pace of his drops in the pocket, his awareness in the pocket, and his inability to take clean snaps early in the game.
For those two, the issues with Fields were not new. They transpired in Chicago and still carry over to Pittsburgh.
Neither said that the mistakes in the preseason opener were going to cost Fields an opportunity to win the starting job in Pittsburgh, but comments like that about Fields, as well as some others that Riddick presumably saw and heard, drew his ire.
“We need to stop doing that kind of crap to these guys and look at it individually. Look, if he didn’t get the ball out of his hands because he missed a read, that’s one thing,” Riddick said of the criticism of Fields. “And if that’s the case and that’s still happening, then Mike Tomlin and Arthur Smith need to kind of like ferret that out and go, ‘Hey look, you’re gonna have to sit because you’re not doing it when you have opportunities.’ But we can’t just automatically look at him and go, ‘he took two sacks in the game. See, that’s what he did in Chicago.’ Did you watch the game? Did you see how they came about?
“Did you see the pressure he was under? There’s always more to the story…but I think some guys get the benefit of the doubt. Justin gets none.”
That’s certainly a fair take from Riddick. He’s been pounding the table all offseason for Fields, even before he landed with the Steelers, making the case for his talent and the tools he brings to the table.
Following the preseason-opening loss to the Texans, there was quite a bit of chatter about Fields and him leaving much to be desired with the performance. It was a fine performance overall, one that wasn’t good by any means but wasn’t bad like many want to make the case.
The fumbled snaps were a concern, but he looked good throwing the football and even showed off his legs. The sacks happened because the offensive line struggled in protection, especially on the second one. The first sack that happened, he did hold it a bit longer than he should have, but that happens.
Fields gets a lot of flak and seems to be blamed for what went wrong in Chicago, which isn’t fair. Some of that flak appears to have followed him to Pittsburgh, which seems unfair on the surface. His play will have to do the talking to quiet that criticism, and right now, it hasn’t exactly done that.
