The Pittsburgh Steelers hope they have unlocked something in Justin Fields, who is turning heads over the first three weeks of the season. He has helped them get off to a 3-0 start and continues looking more comfortable. While the talent around him has a lot to do with it, so does stripping down his prior habits with the Chicago Bears. That’s what Charlie Batch believes, as he said Tuesday on the DVE Morning Show.
“He really has [been successful throwing the ball]. And those are things you have to credit him [for]”, Batch said of Fields. “This coaching staff has done a really good job of really breaking him down from all of the things that he did wrong in Chicago and building him back up, and that’s starting with the confidence”.
The Chicago Bears selected Justin Fields 11th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. He went on to start 38 games over the next three years, winning 10 of them. In just three games with the Steelers, he is already 30 percent of the way toward matching that win total.
“You can see that transitioning here because in Chicago, he would just pull the football down and run”, Batch said of the differences he sees in the Justin Fields of the Steelers versus the Justin Fields of the Bears. “You’re not seeing that right now. Yes, he’ll use it when he needs to, but in order to be a great quarterback in this league, you’re going to have to prove that you can stand in the pocket and deliver”.
Our Josh Carney highlighted one example of that from last Sunday’s game. While facing a collapsing pocket, he repositioned himself and rolled to his left while keeping his eyes downfield. He bought enough time to allow George Pickens to find a soft spot, connecting for a big gain. Fields may not have had the maturity or comfort level to make that play in Chicago, which is becoming routine.
“If you watch in this game, Justin Fields does a really good job of going from number one to number two, getting to number three”, Batch says, referring to his reads. “As he’s going through his progressions, and those are noticeable on film, defensive coordinators are now paying attention to that, and they have to play him a lot more honestly to make sure that they now respect the passing game”.
While defensive coordinators always respected Justin Fields as an athlete with a big arm, he didn’t necessarily scare you. He wasn’t the quarterback you worry about outplaying you in a game of football chess moving move for move. You could force him off a throw with pressure and force him to rely on his legs.
That is not the player he is becoming during his early tenure with the Steelers. Fields is unlearning behaviors he picked up with the Chicago Bears and appears better off for it. Of course, we are still only talking about three games.
