Mike Tomlin may have left it ambiguous during his Tuesday and (brief) Wednesday press conferences, but it seems pretty obvious now that Russell Wilson will be getting his first start for the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night. In doing so, he will be replacing Justin Fields, who led the team to a 4-2 start.
Najee Harris was asked after practice what the offense gains with Russell Wilson at quarterback, and his answer was pretty well in support of Fields.
“You guys focus so much on one player,” Harris said in a video posted by Amanda Godsey on X. “It’s all 11 of us. You guys are worried about the quarterback, but I’m worried about all 11 — the quarterback, and the line, and the receivers, and the running back, you know?
“Russ being out there, I mean, he got to do the same thing that Justin was doing. Justin was doing a great job for us. This is the best start that I think I had throughout my years being here.”
Many have questioned the approach to move on from Fields after a 4-2 start. He has cleaned up a lot of the mistakes that plagued him throughout the first three seasons of his career with the Chicago Bears. His turnover percentages are down, he has taken less sacks, and most important, he has been winning football games.
Fields’ current pace would have had him finishing a 17-game schedule with about 28 touchdowns and three interceptions. The passing game has been struggling over the last few weeks, which is probably what caused the change in the first place, but he has been protecting the football and making enough plays to keep the Steelers competitive.
Even offensive coordinator Arthur Smith seems like he would have been content with riding the hot hand of Justin Fields. Earlier today, he said Fields was being too hard on himself when he stated he didn’t do a good enough job to hold onto the starting role.
This opinion isn’t held in a vacuum, either. NFL insider Albert Breer reported yesterday that there are a “ton of people” in the Steelers’ building who think the team should stick with Fields.
The pressure is definitely on Wilson to perform and vindicate Tomlin’s controversial move. That could be difficult after not playing in a meaningful football game since late December, nearly 10 full months ago. If he struggles, the locker room divide or fracture that many have worried about with the two quarterbacks could start to grow. It seems like Harris would have been perfectly content with Fields remaining the starter, for example.
“All 11 of us gotta pitch in and be in there, ’cause we need both of them for sure,” Harris said.
It is nothing new for Harris to decline to answer a question about what the quarterback adds to the offense. He did the same thing with Fields a week or two ago and turned the conversation back around to the execution of the whole team. But the fact that he spent nearly a minute defending Fields instead of answering a question about Wilson piqued my interest given the current quarterback situation in Pittsburgh.
