Head coach Mike Tomlin has made it rather clear this offseason that Russell Wilson is the front runner to start behind center for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season. But that doesn’t mean fellow signal caller Justin Fields won’t compete.
At the first day of voluntary workouts on May 21, Fields told the media he’s practicing as if he is going to be the team’s starter.
“I’m definitely competing,” Justin Fields said to reporters, via The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo. “Russ knows that. We compete against each other every day. We’re pushing each other.
“I definitely don’t have the mindset of sitting all year. I come in here every day and give it all I got. I’m pushing him to be his best, and he’s pushing me to be my best every day.”
Fields is certainly used to starting. He became the starter behind center for the Chicago Bears during Week 3 of his rookie season. Since then, he’s started all 38 games in which he’s played.
In those games with the Bears, Fields posted 7 yards per pass with 40 touchdowns and 29 interceptions. He also averaged 6.3 yards per carry with 13 rushing touchdowns.
Fields’ interview on May 21 was the first he conducted since joining the Steelers. The team did not hold an introductory press conference for the quarterback after acquiring him in a trade because he was out of the country on a Youth Football Camp tour at the time.
Justin Fields’ Desire to Play for the Steelers
Fields went through two straight offseasons where his franchise held the No. 1 overall pick.
Last year, the Bears traded No. 1 overall to the Carolina Panthers. But in that deal, the Bears received Carolina’s 2024 first-rounder. Ironically, that became the No. 1 overall pick this spring.
The second time around, the Bears elected to draft Fields’ replacement in quarterback Caleb Williams. But Chicago general manager Ryan Poles “wanted to do right by” Fields this offseason, trading him to a place where he wanted to be.
Fields identified that place to be Pittsburgh.
“Shoutout to Poles, we communicated to him through my agent, and I told him where I wanted to be and this was a place I wanted to be,” Fields told reporters, via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “He honored that, and I appreciate him for that and glad he was able to put me in a spot where I wanted to be at.”
The Steelers trading for Fields was one of the more popular quarterback rumors for the team this offseason. But so was signing Wilson, which is what the Steelers did the night before the legal tampering period of NFL free agency began.
However, after Kenny Pickett expressed wanting a chance elsewhere after Pittsburgh signed Wilson, another opportunity for the Steelers to acquire Fields arose. And even with Wilson, Fields wanted to play for the Steelers
“I wanted to come here before Russ got here and after, too,” said Fields.
That may help put Steelers fans minds at ease after Go Long’s Tyler Dunne reported on May 10 that Fields had a “toxic” relationship with veteran quarterbacks Nick Foles and Andy Dalton during his rookie season in Chicago.
There are no early indications that Fields isn’t looking forward to competing with and learning from Wilson.
Fields Fires Message on Self-Improvement
At least publicly, Fields doesn’t seem concerned about who will start at quarterback for the Steelers in 2024. Instead, he is focused on improving.
“I’m not the same quarterback I was last year; I’m not the same quarterback I was yesterday,” Fields told reporters, via Fittipaldo. “I’m going to continue to get better each and every day. I think I have a lot of room to grow.”
The Steelers acquired Fields with that very idea in mind. The Bears drafted Fields at No. 11 overall in the 2021 NFL draft. But he has gone just 10-28 in his career as a starter.
A lot of NFL analysts, including Chicago pundits, have argued Fields wasn’t properly supported with the Bears. If that was the case, the former first-round quarterback could fulfill his potential in Pittsburgh.
He’s at least practicing like he will get that opportunity during 2024.
