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The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a QB conundrum with Justin Field and Russell Wilson. Russ will likely begin the 2024 season as the Steelers' starting QB, but Fields could end up playing significant snaps for the Steelers. One former NFL QB, who is familiar with Fields, knows how he would approach this situation.
Nick Foles appeared on a recent episode of the Green Light Podcast with Chris Long. During the interview, Foles says that the coaching staff in Pittsburgh needs to simplify the game for Fields and let him focus on making plays instead of pre-snap reads.
“I think with Justin Fields, the key to success is how do you allow his mind to be calm while he plays,” Foles said. “Like if you're a coach who is like you’re going to make every mike point, every protection call, and then you’re going to read the coverage, then you’re going to audible and do that. I wouldn’t like that, I didn’t like that. When I was in Philadelphia, Kelce made all the calls for all his quarterbacks and then I would give him time to adjust calls. Very seldom did I ever change what he did, maybe once or twice.”
Chris Long also pointed out that when he watches Fields on film it seems like he struggles to process the game and get through reads fast enough.
“You want your mind simple so you could play fast, the NFL is too fast to play slow,” Foles noted. “So I think with any quarterback, we’re talking about Justin Fields. Recognize who he is, recognize how to make him better, if you do that, you’re going to see a lot of success.”
Nick Foles recalls Steelers QB Justin Fields' rookie season with the Chicago Bears
Nick Foles also remembers playing with Justin Fields during Fields rookie season. He recalls the unique struggles of that year in Chicago.
“I was with him rookie year and rookie years are always you know tough,” Foles said. “That was the last year of that coaching staff so all of us has to go through a lot… that’s not easy. When you look at Justin, athletically, one of the best athletes in the NFL, and then you see him as a quarterback. I feel like every year he’s getting better and better, and better and he’s just coming into his own.”
There is some important context we should consider with any of these comments from Foles on Justin Fields.
It is important to remember that during the season in question, there were rumors that Fields did not have a great relationship with both Foles and QB Andy Dalton.
Ultimately, it depends on who you want to side with. If you side with Foles, you might say that Fields had two veteran QBs in his position group. Fields having a standoffish approach to working with them could easily be viewed as him being immature and not taking advantage of that situation.
On the other hand, Fields supporters may take all of Foles' comments with a large grain of salt. If the two QBs “couldn't stand each other” then it calls into question their assessments of one another.
Here's hoping that Justin Fields gets a chance to silence his critics at some point during the 2024 regular season.
