Tomlin: Fumbles undid positives in Fields’ debut

PITTSBURGH — For all the positives of Justin Fields‘ Pittsburgh Steelers debut in the team’s first preseason game Friday night, two plays overshadowed the quarterback’s performance.

A fumbled snap exchange on each of Fields’ first two drives stymied the Steelers’ first outing of the year and were just part of a sloppy 20-12 loss to the Houston Texans.

“I thought he did some nice things,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “But obviously he was a component of the C-Q exchange, and from my perspective, that’s dual responsibility on the center and the quarterback. It negated a lot of good things going on in those first couple of drives.”

Fields played for three series, completing 5 of 6 attempts for 67 yards, but he was part of two fumbles and was sacked twice.

The first fumble came on the opening drive as the Steelers crossed midfield. The miscue between Fields and center Nate Herbig cost the team 4 yards on first down. The unit couldn’t recover, punting the ball three plays later to end the drive.

Then, on the next drive, the first snap was another fumbled exchange. This time, the ball was recovered by fullback Jack Colletto for a 4-yard gain, but the Steelers still went three-and-out as Fields scrambled for 2 yards and then was sacked by Danielle Hunter for a loss of 8.

“We were just shooting ourselves in the foot,” Fields said. “Fumbled snap, I think all three phases, so we can definitely be better in that part.

“And I think the snapping part, we just got to be on the same page. I’ll put that on me to just be on the same page and know who’s in that center or know how to adjust and what I need to do.”

Herbig, though, took “100%” of the blame after the game.

Once Fields went out, third-string quarterback Kyle Allen finished out the game for the Steelers, completing 17 of 23 attempts for 193 yards. Against the Buffalo Bills in the second preseason game next week, the Steelers are likely to add a third quarterback to the mix.

During his postgame news conference, Tomlin said he expects Russell Wilson to be available in the next game. With Wilson sidelined Friday as he continues to work back from a calf injury, Fields was announced as the starter and ran out to a sea of Terrible Towels as his name was called.

“It was cool,” Fields said. “I think our uniforms are really cool. I liked the black and yellow, black and gold, so it was awesome to put the new threads on and kind of get a new stadium, get a new feel.”

Though the Steelers’ early drives stalled out in large part because of the fumbles, Fields showed flashes of his playmaking ability as he completed his first five attempts, including a 20-yard dart to receiver Van Jefferson.

“I feel like I was in a good rhythm, and I think we were moving the ball well,” Fields said. “I think just the fumbled snaps, things like that, they can kill a whole drive, but I think the overall rhythm of things I think we’re in and out of the huddle fast and felt good.”

Fields’ lone incompletion was another deep ball to Jefferson that was ruled out of bounds, but Fields thought Jefferson completed the catch.

“Yeah, I thought he was in-bounds,” Fields said. “I’m not going to lie.”

And for Fields and the offense, Friday was also the first opportunity to work with new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. The offense put up just 12 points, but they racked up 344 yards of offense, 19 first downs and 109 rushing yards — and averaged 6 yards per play.

“You can kind of get a feel on what Arthur’s thinking, how he goes about the game, how he just communicates with you on the sideline and stuff like that,” Fields said. “So that was good, just being with them and kind of having a real-in game experience with him.

“… I think the overall process went well and just the logistics of everything went well.”