After naming Russell Wilson the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 1 starter at quarterback, Mike Tomlin warned Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris that he “better be ready” for a Justin Fields package of plays. It is unclear if that was a bit of gamesmanship or a genuine warning since everybody probably already saw it coming.
Morris responded to that during his Wednesday press conference, and it seems like he is also wondering if Tomlin was just pulling his chain and forcing him to waste some practice time.
“Mike told me to prepare for Justin Fields, so we did,” Morris said in a video posted on the Falcons’ YouTube channel. “Russell’s gonna be able to go out there and present the challenge he’s always presented to teams…but there are roles that guys are gonna play, so expect the expected. And that’s what we’ll do. So we’ll go out there and prepare. There’s a lot of unknowns in this game just in general, and it’d be a rules-type of game. Rules ball for them and for us.”
One of the Falcons reporters commented that it was nice of Tomlin to tip him off about Justin Fields.
“That’s a nice way to make me waste time, and he’s the master at it,” Morris said. “He’s conducting a master class on Fields, or he’s not and Fields is gonna show up.”
Tomlin also said that Fields has too much talent to be sitting around watching. That seems like a pretty genuine statement, but nobody outside the Steelers’ locker room will know until all 60 minutes of the game on Sunday are complete. There could be certain situations they are looking for to put Fields in the game. The intention could be to play him, but if the game flow goes in a different direction, perhaps they don’t.
Either way, Morris and the Falcons had to dedicate valuable practice time to brushing up on things like the read-option play and all of the various things that come with a quarterback as athletic as Fields. There is plenty of tape on his skills from his time with the Chicago Bears over the last three years.
While Morris was the defensive coordinator of the Los Angeles Rams, they faced the Bears one time in 2021. Andy Dalton was the starter at the time, but Fields did play a little in that game with two completed passes and one rush attempt. So he at least has some in-game familiarity with Fields.
Tomlin and Morris are old friends from their time together on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ coaching staff from 2002-2005. It should be a fun dynamic watching those two coach against each other during the season opener on Sunday. Fields’ involvement, or lack thereof, in the offense will be something that everybody is anxious to see, including Morris.
