Pittsburgh Steelers QB Justin Fields will see a familiar face on the opposing sideline on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, as Luke Getsy, who was his offensive coordinator for the last two seasons with the Chicago Bears, is now the OC for the Raiders. Getsy had his press conference ahead of the game on Sunday earlier today, and right off the bat, he was asked about Fields.
“Justin’s an incredible guy, just an incredible competitor, great teammate. I can only imagine those guys love playing for him,” Getsy said via the Raiders’ YouTube channel. “He’s a competitor, so he is gonna bring it every single play. He doesn’t have any backdown. There’s no excuses with that guy. That guy goes and balls and so it’ll be great to see him. I know that our defense will have a big challenge going up against him.”
Antonio Pierce said he’s going to pick the brain of his coaching staff about the Steelers, and with Getsy knowing Fields, that’s who Pierce will turn to. Getsy in that instance is giving more scheme-based advice.
“When you’re talking about a particular player, I think those guys, they don’t need much of my help, but when you’re talking about schemes or maybe places you’ve been in the past, I think sometimes that can go into a little bit of the conversation,” he said.
Getsy knows a lot of Fields’ strengths and weaknesses from working with him the last two seasons, but there’s only so much he’s going to be able to do to help out the Raiders given his focus is on the offensive side of the ball and obviously the Steelers aren’t running the exact same stuff that Getsy did with Fields in Chicago. Still, he’ll be able to provide at least some assistance although it comes down to execution at the end of the day and if the Raiders will be able to stop Fields.
There was a lot of debate in Chicago about the Getsy-Fields pairing and whether Fields was the issue or Getsy was. The Bears decided that both weren’t good enough and let Getsy go after the season while trading Fields. While the two of them might have had a good working relationship, both of them are going to want to get the win on Sunday and show what they’re capable of.
Las Vegas’ defense is coming off a rough performance. They allowed 27 points to the Broncos last Sunday (Denver also scored on a pick-six), and they’re going to be down DL Christian Wilkins, who went on IR with a Jones fracture. It’s a good opportunity for Fields to have a get-right game and help the Steelers avoid dropping three games in a row. He could do it in front of his former offensive coordinator, who’s going to try and match Fields with Aidan O’Connell, who will be making his first start of the season on Sunday.
