Ben Roethlisberger desires his previous crew to experience the new hand at quarterback.
The Pittsburgh Steelers legend believes Justin Fields ought to take his previous job for the foreseeable future after the Steelers’ 2-0 begin, saying that Fields has “earned” the correct to maintain the beginning quarterback function.
“Up to now, I like what I’ve seen,” Roethlisberger mentioned of Fields on his podcast, “Footbahlin.” “I like that he is moving into it. I like that he is getting the texture of it. For those who instructed me that they are 1-1 or 0-2 and this is occurring, I might say, ‘Yeah, we have got to do one thing.’ However he isn’t turning the ball over. They’re 2-0.”
Coming into the common season, Russell Wilson was set to be the Steelers’ quarterback after the crew signed him in March following his launch from the Denver Broncos. However a calf harm has sidelined him for the primary two video games of the season, permitting Fields to get a chance to begin.
Fields hasn’t put up gaudy stats within the two video games he is began for Wilson. Nevertheless, he is completed sufficient to present Pittsburgh’s vaunted protection an opportunity to safe two wins on the highway, beating the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 and the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Within the win over the Falcons, Fields accomplished 17 of 23 passes for 156 yards and rushed for 57 extra yards. Regardless that the Steelers did not rating a landing of their 18-10 Week 1 win, Fields led them to a scoring drive on six of their 10 possessions.
Fields’ stat line really took a little bit of a dip in opposition to the Broncos, throwing for simply 117 yards and speeding for 27 extra. However he threw a landing and did not flip the ball over for a second straight week as Pittsburgh beat Denver, 13-10.
Roethlisberger understood that Fields’ numbers won’t be the best, however he mentioned he would advise Fields not “to fret about what persons are saying when it comes to yards, when it comes to touchdowns, when it comes to all that.”
Steelers’ Justin Fields speaks on beginning over Russell Wilson and beating Falcons
“Would you prefer to see 400 yards, three touchdowns and one speeding landing? In fact, you’ll,” Roethlisberger mentioned. “However you understand what else you are going to be proud of? You will be proud of a man proper now that wasn’t even actually presupposed to most likely begin this yr, going 2-0, taking good care of the soccer, making performs, generally out of nothing when guys are getting in.”
Regardless that the Steelers made the postseason in 2023, their quarterback play typically harmed them greater than it helped. Within the first 14 weeks of the season, Kenny Pickett and Mitchell Trubisky threw a mixed 10 touchdowns to 9 interceptions, going 7-7 in these video games. Mason Rudolph took over in Week 15, serving to the Steelers win three straight video games with a purpose to make the playoffs earlier than a wild-card spherical loss to the Buffalo Payments.
Because of the lackluster quarterback play, the Steelers opted to revamp their quarterback room by signing Wilson to a minimal deal and buying Fields in a commerce from the Chicago Bears. There was an expectation by means of a lot of the offseason that Wilson would open the yr because the starter though the Steelers had an open quarterback competitors. Moreover, the conditional 2025 sixth-round decide that Pittsburgh gave the Bears for Fields will flip right into a fourth-round decide if he performs not less than 51% of the snaps this season.Â
Regardless that the Steelers could be incentivized to begin Wilson and Fields hasn’t been lighting it up, Roethlisberger does not need to see Pittsburgh tinker with what’s been a successful components by means of the primary two weeks of the season.Â
“When you get right into a rhythm and also you get good issues going, you do not need to mess that up,” Roethlisberger mentioned. “Let’s not mess up the rhythm of the crew and what is going on on, and I feel they’re constructing. They regarded higher this week than final week. In the event that they proceed to construct, I feel that that is the transfer. You stick with it.”Â
[Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.]
Â
Get extra from Nationwide Soccer League Observe your favorites to get details about video games, information and extra