You’ve certainly seen the clips on social media that showed off the highlights of what Justin Fields was able to do in his unexpected starting performance during the first Pittsburgh Steelers training camp practice of 2024 on Thursday. But do the highlights tell the whole story?
With Justin Fields, they certainly do not. You can see his impressive highlight reel from his three seasons as the starting quarterback of the Chicago Bears, and then look at his career 82.3 passer rating, 10-28 record, and realize that something isn’t adding up. So it shouldn’t be surprising that was the case from training camp on Thursday.
Yes, there was a deep ball to George Pickens that was pretty, even if it fell incomplete, and a bomb to Van Jefferson in a 7-on-7 after his cornerback fell down, and a screen pass for a big gain to Jaylen Warren, after DeShon Elliott would almost certainly have sacked Fields. But they don’t tell the whole story, just like his other highlights don’t, either.
That’s not to say that Fields was bad. He didn’t throw an interception, and he didn’t fumble, so he minimized the biggest of mistakes. The Steelers defense is also a formidable one that returns eight starters and brought in three established NFLers to fill the gaps. They don’t have much to work on right now.
The door is far from closed on Fields after one practice, but if you’re letting three clips change your opinion of him without any context, you’re probably getting ahead of yourself.
