The Pittsburgh Steelers recently broke out their Justin Fields package, following weeks—actually months—of speculation. It has been…okay, in spots. Fields’ 30-yard run was certainly nice, even if he claimed it made him sick. It was another play for which he was in that turned Kurt Warner’s stomach, however.
“I definitely didn’t like [the third-down pass attempt with Justin Fields]”, Warner said on NFL GameDay Morning. “You’ve got a guy that has been your thrower and has made those throws. I don’t like putting a quarterback in and then asking him to do that when he hasn’t been in the game”.
The Steelers have been using Justin Fields in spots for Russell Wilson over the past two weeks. It’s something they have talked about for quite some time, but only implemented recently. Of course, Wilson was supposed to start at the beginning of the season, but injury prevented it. That, and then an injury to Fields, delayed the timeline for everything.
And it just so happened to conspire in the result we saw last Thursday. Justin Fields’ first official pass attempt since Week 6 came late in the fourth quarter of a snowy short-week road game. On third down, naturally, and on a deep ball. Of course it didn’t work.
“I don’t mind what they did the game before, when they had to finish the game and it was the quarterback option”, Warner said about how the Steelers previously used Fields in a similar spot. “They were gonna run the football. They’re gonna run it with the quarterback or the running back. I didn’t mind it as much then, because, obviously, he’s more athletic. But to put him in in that situation, in those conditions, and ask him to throw a go ball really surprised me”.
Last Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, the Steelers checked Fields in on 2nd and long. They asked him to run, and he nearly picked up the first down—in fact, he should have. On Thursday against the Browns, he handed off to Najee Harris on second down. Then he threw an errant deep pass to George Pickens on third down. And then Corliss Waitman shanked a punt and the Browns scored the game-winning touchdown.
That’s certainly not what the Steelers had in mind. Justin Fields has admitted that coming in and out of the game affects his readiness. But he also said that he can’t complain about any opportunity to play, which, of course he can’t. Only Broderick Jones can.
Of course, Russell Wilson had just led the Steelers to a go-ahead touchdown drive shortly before this. He threw a beautiful ball through the snow for a deep-completion touchdown to Calvin Austin III. It only made sense to ask Justin Fields to make the game-sealing pass instead, with Wilson evaluating from the sideline and sending good vibes.
