Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields talks about his competitive edge and relationship with Russell Wilson.
PITTSBURGH — Justin Fields and Russell Wilson have known each other since Fields played at Ohio State. But now, in the same quarterback room, a competition is brewing this Summer. Not at OTAs yet, though, mainly because the pole position moniker Wilson has adopted is set in place. But Fields has zero intentions of laying by the wayside and letting Wilson waltz his way to the starting job.
Wilson and Fields both have played as franchise quarterbacks. That adds experience and, more importantly, stakes to this, knowing what they hope to achieve. In fact, Fields has the mindset of playing from Week 1 and not sitting on the bench throughout the season.
“I’m definitely competing,” Fields said. “Russ knows that. We’re competing against each other every day. I definitely don’t have the mindset of just sitting all year. I’m coming in here every day giving it all I got and pushing him to be his best, and he’s pushing me to be my best every single day.”
That is the way Justin Fields should approach this, while Wilson downplays it. Fields, theoretically, is the younger player and has more upside, but Wilson is a former Super Bowl Champion. The past two seasons have gone awry for Wilson in Denver, yet he has to hope to catch magic in Pittsburgh and ascend to the top of the league status. It’s a clash of careers on the opposite ends of the pole, but Wilson and Fields have far more in common in how they play.
The mindset for leading a locker room seems similar, too. The mesh between competition and mentorship should guide this locker room into training camp. These guys have the hypercompetitiveness and leadership capabilities to lead the locker room at a given time.
However, the opposing stories will be the focus of training. With the younger, Fields hopes to revitalize his career after being a highly sought-after quarterback coming out of Ohio State, while the veteran Wilson hopes to reach the heights he once marked at the apex of his career.
