Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger made a bold suggestion on what the Steelers should do with quarterback Justin Fields. Instead of lining Fields up at his natural quarterback position, Roethlisberger would like to see Fields at wide receiver in certain packages to keep the defense guessing. Similar to a Slash 2.0 role that the Steelers used with Kordell Stewart in the 1990s.
“I would like to see, line him up at wide receiver a couple of times. Put him at difference spots because what that does, even if you don’t do anything with it, again, anytime you can make an opponent spend five minutes on something they may never see, it takes them away from preparing for what they will see,” Roethlisberger said on his Footbahlin podcast. “You could put [Fields] out at wide receiver and hand the ball to Najee. Like, you we’re gonna run a normal play. But having him a receiver now makes you think like, ‘OK, are they gonna throw it to him? Are they gonna through a reverse pass to him?”
Justin Fields was given the opportunity to make an impact on several series in Thursday night’s game against Cleveland, and he did for the most part as he helped lead a much-needed touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter.
His biggest play of the night was a 30-yard run down the sideline, but he’s still kicking himself that he got caught.
“I should’ve scored. I’m sick,” Fields said. “I just gotta make sure I’m warm on the sideline at all times. I felt stiff on that one.”
While there was some success, Fields also got stuffed on a fourth-and-2 play in the first quarter against the Browns.
“I like the Fields’ package,” Roethlisberger said. “It can’t be every third-and-short or every fourth-and-short. It has to be used kind of sparingly and at the right time.”
Tomlin said on Tuesday that Fields will continue to be a part of the team’s plans moving forward.
“It’s a component of what we do,” Tomlin said. “I’ve been pretty clear about that.”
The plan for Fields varies from week to week, however.
“When we use it or how much we utilize it will be dependent on plans week to week based on the opponent,” Tomlin said. “I don’t know if this week will be reflective of what you saw last week, to be quite honest with you. Just know that it certainly is a component of what we do and a component of every plan.”
Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.