After his performance in Week 3, it seems like Justin Fields should remain the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’re 3-0, and he’s only looked better as the weeks have gone on. However, Mike Tomlin has not made anything official yet. While that’s probably because Russell Wilson is still working his way back from an injury, analyst Rich Eisen believes it could be a good strategy on Tomlin’s part as well.
“At this point in time, this is Justin Fields’ show,” Eisen said Monday on his show. “3-0, Justin Fields. They’re not gonna [announce a starter]. They’re gonna keep the fire burning here because that’s the way you coach. ‘No, we’re not gonna just hand it to him for the rest of the year. The only reason why he’s still the starter is because [Wilson] is not available yet, and once he is available, that’s when we’ll address it.'”
That’s an interesting perspective from Eisen, and it could very well be true. That might be part of why Tomlin hasn’t made an official decision. At this point, it seems like Fields would have to totally collapse in Week 4 not to keep the starting job. Even then, he was so good against the Los Angeles Chargers that the decision could still be difficult.
Historically, Tomlin hasn’t liked letting players lose their jobs due to injury. It’s not like Wilson looked bad when he was on the field. There was no actual sample size to judge him off of. Therefore, Tomlin probably feels bad leaving Wilson on the bench, but at the end of the day, he’s focused on winning games.
Keeping Fields motivated sounds like a classic Tomlin strategy as well. Fields has looked like a better player with the Steelers than when he was with the Chicago Bears. His accuracy has been much improved, and he’s been more willing to stick in the pocket and throw rather than scramble. He hasn’t had an explosive day running the ball yet, but that’s because he’s been good enough as a passer.
The Steelers also don’t have any attachment to Fields beyond this year, so Tomlin also probably wants to get a good read on his mental toughness. If he can continue to play winning football with Wilson behind him, Tomlin might feel comfortable paying him to be the starter going forward.
It’s still a difficult situation to manage, though. It’s a good problem to have, but it’s still a problem, nonetheless. We’ll see if Tomlin handles it in the manner Eisen believes he will. There probably won’t be an actual answer until Wilson is healthy though.
