Despite everybody wanting to know the plan for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback situation once Russell Wilson is fully healthy, Mike Tomlin has maintained a neutral stance. He hasn’t committed to Fields, but he also hasn’t stated that Wilson will be given his QB1 job back to him. Just a couple weeks ago, he was asked why he doesn’t commit either way, and he explained it’s because there is no need to right now. With Wilson unavailable to the team, Tomlin has been able to proceed with Fields without having to make the difficult decision.
Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett went through a similar scenario back in 2016 with Tony Romo aging out of the league and third-round rookie Dak Prescott coming onto the scene. Having some experience in that situation, he thinks Tomlin is doing a great job handling it.
“I think he’s handled it beautifully,” Garrett said via Pro Football Talk with Mike Florio. “They had an issue at quarterback. They didn’t feel good about where they were going, and as an organization, they got together and said we need to address this. Addressed it two ways, Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, have them come in [and] compete. Russell’s the incumbent and then he has the calf injury. He is not able to go. Justin Fields is the quarterback, and they’re behind him 1,000 percent, creating an environment for him to be successful.
“I think what he said publicly throughout about both quarterbacks, about Russel and now about Justin, it is an indicator of what kind of coach he’s been for a long, long time creating that environment.”
Tomlin showed the first signs of breaking from his previous approach Tuesday during his weekly press conference. He was asked if Justin Fields has a chance to be the hot hand like Mason Rudolph was last season, and he said there is potential, but they aren’t quite there yet.
So he is giving Fields perhaps a little of that security or motivation that people have been clamoring for while still maintaining the flexibility and potential to go back to Wilson if necessary. This keeps both quarterbacks engaged, avoids any unnecessary drama, and ultimately gives the Steelers the best possible situation they could have with the quarterbacks on their roster.
For what it’s worth, the Cowboys rode with Prescott in 2016, and he led them to a 13-3 record. Not that the Steelers will match that exact success, but things appear to be trending in that direction. Fields has them at 3-1 and has an opportunity to put an exclamation point on his case to be the permanent starter on the biggest stage against the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. If he wins, it feels like Mike Tomlin could finally pull the trigger on promoting Fields to QB1.
