Although Mike Tomlin said that Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris should be ready for a Justin Fields package during their Week 1 matchup, it’s still unclear if that’s going to be an actual part of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game plan. Morris seems to be preparing as if Tomlin is telling the truth, but it could all be a mind game. And Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith refused to add fuel to that fire.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Smith was asked if he would be getting Fields involved in Week 1 against the Falcons.
“I think Mike has already talked about that,” Smith said via the team’s transcript. “Again, whether it’s Justin or how we want to deploy somebody else. Let them figure that out on Sunday.”
Smith seems content to let the Falcons keep wondering if they’ll see Fields, which is smart. Forcing them to devote time to defending Fields, even if they don’t see him, is a good strategy. However, it seems likely that Tomlin won’t want to waste Fields’ talents sitting on the bench.
This could also be due to Russell Wilson being limited in practice Thursday with some calf tightness. Wilson dealt with a calf injury early in training camp that kept him out of action, and now, it seems the issue is giving him some trouble again. It’s unclear how much this injury will impact Wilson, but if it continues to hinder him, maybe that influences the Steelers’ plan for Fields in Atlanta.
With Wilson already nursing an injury, it would be brutal for the Steelers to lose Fields on a random gadget play. Perhaps they’ll be more cautious in the use of their backup quarterback now.
Fields does have incredible athletic talent so it could still be more to the Steelers’ benefit to get him involved on offense. He displayed his amazing rushing ability during the preseason, and not using those abilities could be a waste. Arthur Smith’s run-heavy offense could be the perfect system to take advantage of Fields’ rushing ability.
The game is only a few days away, and once it’s over, it will be much more apparent how the Steelers are going to use Fields. Smith isn’t going to show his hand early though. Against his old team, he probably wants to win badly, and revealing a trick up his sleeve would not help the Steelers reach that goal.
