Back in Line for Starter’s Job, Laid-Back Justin Fields Not Sweating ‘Wave of Emotions’

PITTSBURGH — Some have said that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields has looked disinterested in times in the early part of his tenure with the team.

Fields is an excitable player on the field. Off the field, he’s as laid-back as they come. When it comes to the emotional roller-coaster of the last week, that’s probably a good thing.

Fields and Russell Wilson had been battling for the Steelers’ starting quarterback job since they both joined the team in consecutive transactions in March. Last Wednesday, head coach Mike Tomlin took both quarterbacks into his office, and informed them both that Wilson would be the team’s starting quarterback.

Fields didn’t freak out. He didn’t get down in the dumps. He just went back to work.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields handling snaps at practice on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

“I have the some process every week,” Fields said on Friday. “I learned my rookie year how fast things can change. I remember my third game, rookie season, Andy Dalton, he was just running out of bounds. It looked like a normal play and he tweaked his knee and then right then and there, I was in. I always prepare like I’m a starter. Like I’ve said before, you never know what’s gonna happen.”

Lo and behold, before he even served one game as the Steelers’ backup, something happened. Wilson pulled himself out of practice on Thursday after he experienced a reoccurrence of the calf tightness that kept him out of about half of training camp and the first week go the preseason.

RELATED: Steelers Sights & Sounds: Russell Wilson at Practice, Justin Fields Throws with Starters

Now, the hope of starting is very real once again. Wilson is listed as questionable for Week 1, and Fields took the first-team reps at practice for the last two days. He’s gone from hoping to being the starter, to having little hope, to now potentially having a major weight placed on his shoulders, all in the span of eight days.

Good thing he wasn’t sweating it.

“That’s the thing: you really can’t ride the wave of emotions,” Fields said. “You’ve really gotta keep feelings out of it. My job is to be the best player I can be for this team. Whether that’s starting or that’s being the backup, I’m not necessarily in my feelings or whatever the case may be. My job is to be there for the team and do whatever I can to make us successful.”

Fields has always been a player under the microscope. Some have taken his laid-back persona to mean that he doesn’t care, especially when things did not go well in Chicago. But he said that’s just who he is.

“I feel like I’ve always kind of been even-keeled,” he said. “Some guys came up to me here and were like, ‘You’re always so like mellow and chill.’ I feel like I’ve always been like that. I never get to high or try to get too low. I just try to stay humble and do my job.”

Right now, that mindset seems to be serving him well.