Mike Tomlin would have named Justin Fields the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers if he played better. I think that is an important point that we have to recognize up front, and which not everybody is doing. Fields could have made Russell Wilson a non-factor, but because he did not, we find ourselves in a Week 7 quarterback controversy.
Tomlin essentially admitted as much yesterday when asked what Justin Fields needed to do better to be the Steelers’ starter. He said that while Fields “has been really good”, that is “not to be confused with great”, via the team’s website.
“This is a competitive league. We’re trying to position ourselves to be that team, and we got a player with talent who hadn’t had an opportunity to play, so we’re going to potentially explore those things”, Tomlin said, obviously referring to considering Russell Wilson as he returns from injury after Justin Fields started the team’s first six games.
Fields has gone 106-of-160 passing for 1,106 yards and five touchdowns with one interception. He has posted just a 43.2-percent successful play rate on his pass attempts, taking 16 sacks. While he has rushed for 231 yards and five touchdowns, he has six fumbles, among them multiple botched snaps. It is reasonable to assume that Russell Wilson could better those passing numbers. Tomlin tried to turn the discussion in that direction.
“Sometimes it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with what Justin [Fields] has done or has not done. Justin has been an asset to us”, Tomlin insisted. “We’re appreciative of how he’s taking care of the ball, but we’re just looking at all the people [e.g. Wilson] at our disposal the same way that we do at any position”.
Mike Tomlin conspicuously left Russell Wilson as his QB1 on the depth chart despite missing five games due to injury. He dressed as the backup to Justin Fields on Sunday, but did not get into the game. Wilson took full participation in practice last week, and he should see some first-team reps this week.
While Tomlin declined to name a starter yesterday, reports indicate that he plans to start Wilson over Fields. Whether declining to reveal his intentions serves as any competitive advantage, I won’t comment. I do wonder what the locker room feels like if the players genuinely don’t know who will start.
It’s not often that 4-2 teams make a significant lineup change, though Tomlin would argue that putting in Russell Wilson and sending Justin Fields to the bench would not constitute a change. Fields simply started the first six games because they wanted Wilson to heal up properly. It’s a convenient way to frame the entire situation, and you can be sure that Tomlin has been well aware of that all along.
