What Tomlin liked about Fields 1st game

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It should be clear that Mike Tomlin didn’t say that Justin Fields is the Steelers starting quarterback going forward. He said Tuesday at his weekly news conference they are taking it day-to-day in terms of how much Russell Wilson is able to practice this week. That being said, the Steelers head coach said he’s excited about maybe going through a complete week with Fields in preparation for playing at Denver.

Tomlin said he believed Fields settled in as the game progressed Sunday, a similar thought after watching film that he had following the game.

“I thought he had clear eyes in weighty moments,” Tomlin said. “I thought he was a good communicator in some of those moments where we had some discussions. We had a big third downplay late in the game, third and seven, we had a timeout. We came to the sideline, we talked about leaving the ball in his hands. We bounced around some suggestions. He was a major component of that discussion. We went out, we left the ball in his hands. We had design quarterback run, he moved the chains in those circumstances.”

Overall the offense was 8-17 on third downs. As for Fields stats, 17-23 for 156 yards with 14 rushes for 57 yards. Fields also felt like he and the offense settled in after the first drive. He said that type of slow start would not happen again.

Consistency has been the biggest conundrum for the 25-year-old Fields, last year with the Bears he had back-to-back games with four passing touchdowns each (against Denver and Washington). The next week he threw for 58 yards. He won four of his last six starts with Chicago in 2023, throwing five touchdowns with three interceptions. The wins:
·     12-10 at Minnesota-73% completion, 27-37, 217 passing yards with 59 yards rushing, no TD, no INT
·     28-13 over Detroit-2 touchdowns, one passing, one rushing, 19-33, 223 passing yards, no INT
·     27-16 over Arizona-2 total TD, 15-27, 170 yards passing, 97 yards rushing, INT
·     37-17 over Atlanta-2 total TD, 268 yards passing, 45 yards rushing, no turnovers

The numbers in his last two losses as the Bears starter:
·     20-17 at Cleveland-19-40, 166 yards, TD, 2 INT, 30 yards rushing
·     17-9 at Green Bay-11-16, 148 yards, 27 yards rushing, no TD or INT

Fields said he always prepares to be the starter, as Broncos week begins he is the starter. That could change, but Tomlin seemed pleased overall for his first experience starting his back-up quarterback.

“It was a lot of good,” Tomlin said. “It's just good to be in a stadium with a guy, a guy, you're speculating until you are and I just know a heck of a lot more about him because of that experience and I'm sure he knows more about himself in this environment and us and so it's just really good things to build upon.”