In his preseason debut with the Steelers, Justin Fields struggled greatly.
There is still a lot of work for Justin Fields to accomplish.
This offseason, the 25-year-old quarterback signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in an attempt to unseat Russell Wilson as the starting quarterback. In Pittsburgh’s preseason opener on Friday night against the Houston Texans, he was given the start, and things did not go as planned.
Fields ended 5-of-6 for 67 yards with a few great throws, but he also displayed some of the problems that have dogged his inexperienced career. He failed to use his legs to gain yards on the ground, was sack twice, and fumbled twice. Ignorance of the defense’s location led to one of the sacks. He seems to have done more harm than good because of his shortcomings.
Fields is incredibly talented, but he hasn’t fully utilized it yet. Although moving to Pittsburgh was meant to be a fresh start, he is displaying some of the same shortcomings from his three seasons with the Chicago Bears.
Justin Fields committed two early fumbles.
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In the second quarter, Fields was taken out and Kyle Allen came in.
Wilson won’t be in the game on Friday night, but without even trying, he might have gained ground as quarterback.
Justin Fields struggled greatly in his Steelers preseason debut, according to the original version of this item that appeared on www.si.com.
Following his first preseason game with the Steelers, Justin Fields has to tidy up a few things.
Although Justin Fields produced a few impressive plays in his first preseason game, it’s unclear if the Steelers will adjust their quarterback depth chart as a result of Fields’ performance.
Russell Wilson was nursing an injury when Fields got the opportunity to start, and some of his finer plays were overshadowed by errors. Two mistakes were made on snaps. Fields was sack twice on third down. In the quarter that he played, the Steelers failed to score.
Although Fields didn’t appear horrible, he likely needs a strong preseason to have the Steelers think about starting him in Week 1, and his performance against the Houston Texans on Friday night was far from spectacular.
Fields joined the Steelers after Wilson signed a contract with them, and the process of becoming a Steeler began then. Wilson was traded by Pittsburgh to the Philadelphia Eagles because Kenny Pickett allegedly didn’t take well to the news of his signing. With Caleb Williams set to join the team in the NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears were able to acquire a position on the depth chart. For a conditional sixth-round draft pick, the Bears traded Fields to Pittsburgh, but Wilson has been the team’s official starter ever since he joined.
That might have shifted a little since training camp began. Wilson didn’t participate on Friday night due to a calf ailment that prevented him from participating in the first workouts. Fields has the first preseason chance to establish himself if there is any chance of a real quarterback battle.
Fields immediately shown his athleticism. He was put under pressure on the opening offensive play following a play-action fake by Danielle Hunter, the defensive end. Fields came to a stop and threw a sidearm pass to Najee Harris, who ran with it for a gain of sixteen yards. Fields did something with what should have been a sack.
Fields and Nate Herbig exchanged passes at center and quarterback on a first-down snap, which resulted in a 4-yard loss, which was the main reason why the first drive faltered. However, Fields hit all three of his 37-yard attempts throughout the drive.
To begin the second drive, the Steelers suffered another center-quarterback snap fumble, which they recovered from. Nobody wanted those careless mistakes to marr Fields’ preseason debut with the Steelers. Hunter, who sacked Fields, beat rookie first-round choice Troy Fautanu at right tackle, resulting in a three-and-out on that drive. For the third drive, Zach Frazier, the team’s second-round selection, took Herbig’s position at center.
ond drive, Fields was watching as Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud showed everyone why he’s already one of the greatest in the NFL with a fantastic toss to Tank Dell, who made some pretty clever maneuvers to get into the end zone for a touchdown.
That’s the kind of offense the Steelers dream about. Fields had a few impressive moments. On Pittsburgh’s third drive, a nice toss to Van Jefferson gained 20 yards. However, sacks and fumbles were both causes for concern. Fields was criticized for holding the ball in the pocket too long and for taking too many sacks, so it wasn’t a good indicator when he took two sacks on third downs. Punts resulted from both.
Fields had a strong ending stat line. He gained 67 yards by completing 5 of 6 throws. Although Pittsburgh didn’t contest the ruling, Jefferson appeared to have both feet in bounds, making his incompletion appear to be a terrible call on the field. However, it doesn’t appear good that there wasn’t a scoring drive because the three drives all stalled because of errors.
Fields will get more opportunities during the preseason. Fields has to play much better if he wants to force the issue, and it doesn’t appear like Pittsburgh is taking the prospect of Fields starting the opener over Wilson very seriously.
