The Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff, led by head coach Mike Tomlin, received a backhanded compliment from quarterback Justin Fields. During the “Not Just Football” podcast with Steelers teammate Cam Heyward, Fields was asked about which team had the best coaching. The former Bears signal-caller kept his money.
“Pittsburgh,” he said, “it’s not close.” »
Fields continued to talk about what it was like in the days and weeks leading up to his trade.
“I kind of had a feeling I was going to get traded,” Fields said. “You know, after the season, you have to go to exit meetings. They were quite brief and said, “Tricky situation here. A situation we have never been in. …It’s two different conversations when you’re in the same situation (having the No. 1 pick in the draft). We have a bit of a feeling of what is going to happen.
But it wasn’t always roses between Fields and offensive coordinator Arthur Smithat least when Smith was with the Atlanta Falcons.
“The last two years we played him with Chicago when he was in Atlanta,” Fields said. “He’s a talkative dog. He was talking crazy.
“It’s been great with him so far, just his competitive spirit,” Fields said. “He’s really smart, he knows how to break down plays based on his players’ strengths, so it’s been great.”
Fields had 518 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Even more impressive, the 25-year-old signal-caller completed 73.3% of his passes.
Evaluating Justin Fields’ renaissance with the Steelers
Even though the Steelers are 3-0, they were fortunate not to fall behind or be forced to deviate from their conservative offensive game plan. Beating the Falcons, Broncos and Chargers to start the year may not be as impressive as the Steelers’ unblemished record.
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Calvin Austin III said there was “no panic” in the Steelers offense.
“Before, a lot of you were just looking around and searching, but I feel like now there’s no panic,” Austin said. “We have the answers. It’s just a matter of going through the iPad and cleaning what we need to clean. We talk about what projects we’d like next, we go out and we execute them. It’s simple, you know?
“It’s everyone I would say, but definitely Coach [Arthur] Smith,” Austin continued. “He… always checks in with us after every ride, what we like, what we don’t like, what we’ve seen. Quarterbacks, Justin [Fields]Russian [Wilson]Kyle [Allen]they always do a good job communicating with us and talking to us, so it definitely goes a long way.
A simplified game plan appears to have served Fields well, even though the Colts have a lot to play for after starting the year with back-to-back losses. Indy hosts Pittsburgh in Week 4 at 1:00 p.m. EST.
