The preseason debut as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers for quarterback Justin Fields Friday night against the Houston Texans at Acrisure Stadium was a bit of a mixed bag.
At times, he showed off his arm and accuracy, making a nice 20-yard strike to Van Jefferson off of play-action. He even changed arm angles once on a quick screen to George Pickens for 16 yards, showing he has that in his toolbox. He also showed off his legs on a second-down run, turning a second and long into a third and short.
But there were other times when he struggled with ball security and his pocket presence. Those are two common issues that have been part of Fields’ game since his rookie season in Chicago after he was the No. 11 overall pick out of Ohio State in the 2021 NFL Draft.
For former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky, who appeared on ESPN’s Get Up! Monday morning, it’s disappointing and frustrating that the same issues popped up for Justin Fields once again, this time with a new team.
“This is also a problem of the past for Justin Fields. Deep-in to George Pickens, third down. Watch the pace of his drop, how fast it’s happening. One, two, three, four, five [steps], Justin’s ready to throw the ball right now. George Pickens isn’t even remotely close to running his route,” Orlovksy said on Get Up, according to a video via ESPN. “No receiver’s looking for the football, and so he’s almost forced to, ‘oh, I have to get the ball out ’cause the internal clock is telling me to get rid of the football.’
“That’s been something that Justin has struggled with really since coming to the NFL.”
Not only did Dan Orlovsky highlight that on Get Up! Monday morning, he talked about it Saturday in a video posted to his Twitter page, where he also broke down the issue with the two fumbled snaps from center Nate Herbig.
Orlovsky believes Fields was just too rushed on the third-down throw that was ultimately a check-down to Pat Freiermuth, resulting in a short gain and a punt. He dropped too quickly after the snap and was ready to throw before the routes even developed. In the past, that would lead to Fields holding the football and taking a bad sack or scrambling and abandoning the play before even giving it time to develop.
Though he checked the ball down, didn’t take a sack, and played the field position game in a small sign of growth, rushing through his drop was disappointing to see from Orlovsky’s standpoint. It’s something that’s going to hinder him in his pursuit of the starting job in Pittsburgh.
“The pace of the drop thing for Justin, it is disappointing that that still seems to be an issue,” Dan Orlovsky said of Fields. “That still seems to be something that he hasn’t taken that next step. Preseason, Game One, new offense, all that. I do wanna see that improve over the next two weeks.
“I don’t think he gave away the starting job. I don’t think he took the starting job.”
It was just an average performance from Justin Fields, period. It was neither good nor bad. Yes, he completed 5-of-6 passes for 67 yards in the game and hooked up with Jefferson for an explosive play. But he had the ball security issues with the two fumbled snaps that the Steelers were fortunate to recover. He was rushed in his drops and held the ball too long, taking two drive-ending sacks in the process.
The issues that were there in Chicago remain in Pittsburgh for Justin Fields. That’s not much of a surprise. He is who he is, though there is significant room for growth. He’s worked on things and improved in practice settings, but it’s different in stadium.
Hopefully, he can grow and learn from the issues he displayed in the preseason opener and improve on them in the Week Two preseason matchup with the Buffalo Bills. He’s going to need a strong performance to try and unseat Russell Wilson.
