Through two games, quarterback Justin Fields has helped lead the Steelers to two wins.
It looks like Fields is going to get another start in Week 3 when the Chargers come to Pittsburgh for the Steelers’ home opener, as head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday that Russell Wilson is not yet medically cleared from his calf injury.
While former Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger has said that the club should stick with Fields even when Wilson is healthy, Tomlin has maintained that he won’t entertain hypotheticals. But he did note some of the things he’s learned about Fields since the games have started to count.
“He loves to compete,” Tomlin said. “He’s got a quiet confidence about him. He doesn’t change in environments. There’s a clarity in his communication, in his response to communications, that’s really comfortable.”
Fields has completed 30-of-43 passes for 273 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He’s rushed 22 times for 84 yards.
With those passing numbers, it’s clear that the Steelers haven’t asked Fields to do too much. They rank No. 30 with 43 passing attempts and No. 1 with 77 rushing attempts. Because Fields has only 12 passes going beyond the sticks, Tomlin was asked how he’s assessed how the quarterback has taken his shots.
“That’s not only reflective of his capabilities and mindset, that’s probably reflective of our mindset as a collective,” Tomlin said. “We want to be aggressive in terms of going downfield, but we also want to be prudent because incomplete passes and things of that nature get you behind the sticks. We’ve been in hostile environments through two weeks that we wanted to minimize.
“It’s important, guys, in September that you avoid third-and-long, particularly if your first two games are on the road. We have been really thoughtful and intentional about our approach to business through the first two weeks because of environmental reasons and our lack of collective development, and the number of young people we’ve had in some significant positions, like center, left guard, so forth.”
We’ll see if things open up for Fields a little bit more if he is, in fact, out there for Sunday’s contest against Los Angeles.