Justin Fields is a mellow guy.
“As I’ve gotten to know him, he is a real ‘Steady Eddie,'” Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin told “The 3 Point Conversion’s” Raphael Haynes in the Sept. 8 postgame press conference. “He’s not overly talkative, but he’s got a steady, strong demeanor … he’s solid as a rock.”
After the Steelers’ season-opening 18-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Fields immediately shut down any of the media’s questions regarding him becoming the team’s starter. He and Russell Wilson are accomplished NFL starting-caliber quarterbacks, and Wilson won the preseason competition but was ruled out of the first game due to a calf injury.
Justin Fields taking snaps pre-game. Russell Wilson is in pads. pic.twitter.com/dnPF4VjmbM
— Rashad Milligan (@RashadMilligan) September 8, 2024
“To be honest, I’m [not] even worried about that,” Fields said in his postgame press conference. “… I’m not even going to get into all that of who I want to start. At the end of the day, I wanted to win, no matter if I was going to throw for 300 yards, 100 yards, or no yards. Winning is the only focus I have.”
Fields lit up about picking up a win in his hometown of Atlanta. Fields attended Kennesaw Mountain High School, approximately a 40-minute drive from Atlanta.
“Personally, it’s great,” Fields told USA Today columnist Jarrett Bell postgame. “I have a bunch of family here. I also have family, friends and old high school teammates, so just the setting; I really couldn’t ask for it a better way.
“God sure does work in mysterious ways. I’m just thankful for Him, and I’m really just thankful for this matter with my team. But like you said, coming back home being able to get a dub against the hometown team was great.”
There have been two times in Fields’ young career where he had a chance to become a Falcon. First, in the 2021 NFL Draft as Atlanta neared the end of its Matt Ryan era, tight end Kyle Pitts was drafted instead. Pitts scored the Falcons’ only touchdown in the Sept. 8 loss.
Ryan played the 2021 season, but the quarterback position has been a question mark for the team since then. The team made a reported hard push to trade for another hometown young, Black quarterback Deshaun Watson. After Watson picked the Cleveland Browns, Ryan was infuriated with the franchise and demanded a trade. Atlanta’s quarterback room then became a revolving door until this past offseason. The Falcons brought in a new coach, Raheem Morris, who pointed out the team’s glaring offensive issue. Once again, Fields, who said he was open to the idea of playing for his hometown team on the “St. Brown Podcast,” was among the options on the market. The Falcons passed on Fields again by signing veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins and drafting University of Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick.
In the season-opening loss, Cousins completed 16 of 26 passes for 155 yards, 2 interceptions, and 1 touchdown. Cousins, 36, is coming off an Achilles injury and didn’t take any snaps under center in the game. All of his snaps came in the shotgun formation. He was sacked twice in the loss, as well.
Fields completed 17 of 23 passes for 156 yards. He also rushed for 57 yards on 14 carries and was sacked twice in the win.
Fields was also all smiles when asked how Arthur Smith, the current Steelers’ offensive coordinator and former Falcons’ head coach, felt about winning on his former team’s turf.
“Oh, it meant a lot,” Fields said. “I know Art. I know how competitive he is, so it definitely meant a lot. And I know, shoot, he wishes just like me, we could’ve put even more points on the board. I know he’s glad we came out with the win. I know he’s happy about this one.”
