The Pittsburgh Steelers reportedly planned to use Justin Fields in Week 8, only for an injury to disrupt their plans. Now two weeks later, HC Mike Tomlin is not denying that potential. But is he merely playing media games, or do the Steelers sincerely hope to use him offensively?
Asked if he anticipated the Steelers using Justin Fields in some way, Tomlin said yesterday, “I would always anticipate seeing that as long as both guys are on our roster”. The other guy is, of course, Russell Wilson, who took over the starting quarterback job in Week 7.
Fields started the first six games but only because Wilson was recovering from a calf injury. The Steelers did post a 4-2 record with him, and at the time, Tomlin expressed an openness to continuing to make use of him. The Steelers did not do so in Wilson’s debut; a week later, Fields was unavailable.
During his six starts, Justin Fields rushed for 231 yards and five touchdowns. Two years before joining the Steelers, he recorded a very rare 1,000-yard rushing season for a quarterback. The Steelers lack that sort of athleticism with Russell Wilson, though he is capable of moving in the pocket.
Still, one wonders if Tomlin is serious or just trying to use the media to plant seeds of doubt. At the start of the season, before Wilson aggravated his injury, he said that Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris “better be ready” for the Steelers to have a Justin Fields package. Morris admitted that they did prepare for Fields—and it was a good thing, too, since he ended up starting.
In his two games, Russell Wilson is 36-of-57 passing for 542 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. He has a whopping 10 rushing yards for the Steelers, though that does include a touchdown. Even without Fields, they have managed to churn the ball on the ground the traditional way.
It’s not often that a team makes use of two quarterbacks, really in any way, and it’s not exactly par for the course for a Tomlin team, or indeed a Steelers team. But when you have a backup with Justin Fields’ unique talents, one can understand the temptation.
It’s not as though Russell Wilson is a statue, but he is not liable to turn a sack into a 20-yard gain. If the Steelers were to use Fields, however, I don’t expect he would be throwing a ton of designed drop-back passes.
Given that the offense has been having success with Wilson, one might also suspect they would be hesitant to throw Fields into the mix and potentially disrupt the budding chemistry. But it is something that could be a potential asset. I’m sure they have given this a great deal of consideration over the past several months. And we might finally see whether they are serious about it or not on Sunday.
