Justin Fields is unexpected challenge for Steelers’ defense

LATROBE, Pa., — In one fluid motion, Justin Fields faked the handoff to Jaylen Warren, ripped the ball away and sprinted to his right, cutting toward the goal line as the defense scrambled to recover and cut off his path.

Fields, though, was too quick. He flashed a peace sign at the defenders as he crossed the goal line to score the final, deciding touchdown of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ signature “Seven Shots” period on the first day of padded training camp practice at St. Vincent College on Tuesday to give the offense a 4-3 win in one of coach Mike Tomlin’s favorite drills.

“It’s super fun being able to show my legs off a little bit and practice was definitely fun,” Fields said. “[The defense] talks a lot, but we did a good job today shutting ’em up and like coach always says, there’s no speculating now that we’ve got the pads on.”

With a calf injury limiting Russell Wilson’s participation through the first week of camp, not only does Fields have an opportunity to work with the first team offense and strengthen his case for the starting job, but the Steelers’ first team defense is gaining valuable experience defending a mobile quarterback — something that’s especially beneficial with games against a bevy of running quarterbacks on this year’s schedule.

“It helps us a lot,” linebacker Elandon Roberts said. “You got [Lamar Jackson], [Deshaun Watson] still can run and stuff like that. Then we got Jalen Hurts this year. We got Dak Prescott. In the red area, [Prescott] likes to pull in and run a little bit.

“It gets us prepared for that element of our defense, the calls that we are making in certain types of situations. So I think it all plays a good role [for] us.”

Roberts got his own dose of Fields’ playmaking a day after the quarterback’s read-option touchdown when Fields broke the pocket on another read-option and gained about eight yards. Roberts shoved the quarterback at the end of his run and tripped him up. As Fields tumbled to the ground, rookie offensive linemen Troy Fautanu and Mason McCormick flew in to defend their quarterback, sparking the first fight of camp.

“Outside the pocket, this guy’s a problem,” Roberts said. “Inside the pocket’s a problem. You’re seeing the type of throws that he’s capable of making, and the type of throws that he is making in practice and stuff like that.

“The other dynamic of him running like he does is like you’ll be like, ‘Golly, man.’ He’s that type of guy that’s always going to keep you on your toes. Great leader and stuff like that. And yeah, he’s definitely a spark.”

Though the Steelers prioritized mobility in selecting former quarterback Kenny Pickett with their first-round pick in 2022, Fields is an even greater threat on his legs. Since entering the league in 2021, Fields ranks first in scramble plays (153) and rushing yards gained on those plays (1,359). He also scored seven touchdowns on scramble plays. The Steelers saw Fields’ playmaking prowess first hand during the quarterback’s rookie season in Chicago when he orchestrated a 21-point fourth quarter and a near-comeback against a Ben Roethlisberger-led Steelers team.

“When he breaks the pocket, he is dangerous, and he can turn a bad play into a really good play really fast,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “It’s good for us because then that means we have to be really sharp on our rush lanes and how we’re rushing the quarterback. It means we have to be really sharp if we’re in our zones and we see him scramble in terms of coming out of coverage and corralling them.

“It does a lot and it makes it, it’s really good work for us, because we’re going to run across quarterbacks like that. Obviously we play Lamar twice, but we’re going to run across quarterbacks like this and this can only help us.”

In 2023, Fields ranked third in quarterback rush attempts with 124 and second in rushing yards with 657, despite playing only 13 games. Only Hurts and Jackson had more attempts, and only Jackson had more yards. In the span of a month later this season, the Steelers will face the Baltimore Ravens and Jackson twice and visit the Philadelphia Eagles and Hurts — including a back-to-back road swing in Weeks 15 and 16.

The last time the Steelers faced Hurts in 2022, the Eagles quarterback had just two rush attempts for 10 yards, but he threw for 285 yards and four touchdowns. Jackson, meanwhile, has only faced the Steelers four times since entering the league in 2018 and hasn’t scored a rushing touchdown against his AFC North rivals. The Steelers won their last meeting against Jackson in October 2023, but he averaged 7.2 yards per attempt on six carries and broke off a 26-yard run facing third-and-2 on the third play of the game.

Because the first-team offense frequently works against the first-team defense in training camp, the Steelers starters are tasked with defending one of the NFL’s most dynamic quarterbacks during formative preseason practices. Previously, the defense got the bulk of its preparation against running quarterbacks from mid-season practice squad additions signed to mimic players like Fields and Jackson in the week before facing the real thing.

“For us, it just gives us everything we need to see,” said linebacker Patrick Queen. “He can make every throw, he can make every read and he [can] run the ball. We get to work on everything that we need to.”