Steelers QB Justin Fields finally addresses wild rumor about his potential role in Pittsburgh
When you're as great of an athlete as Pittsburgh Steelers QB Justin Fields is, anytime the ball is in your hands, there is a chance you score. So while Fields is amidst a QB competition, if he were to start the season as a backup, special teams coordinator Danny Smith doesn't want all that talent […]
When you're as great of an athlete as Pittsburgh Steelers QB Justin Fields is, anytime the ball is in your hands, there is a chance you score.
So while Fields is amidst a QB competition, if he were to start the season as a backup, special teams coordinator Danny Smith doesn't want all that talent just sitting around, pitching the idea that Fields could be used as a returner.
However, according to Fields, that was fabricated a little:
Fields laughs off returner rumor
“Our special teams coordinator was talking about Justin Fields being back there. We were like hold up. We looked at him like, ‘Justin Fields about to be back there?'” RB Jaylen Warren said during an appearance on the Not Just Football podcast with Cam Heyward at the Steelers Draft Party last month.
A good sport, the idea seemed far-fetched from the jump but Fields made light of the situation:
“Nah, I think everybody kind of interpreted it wrong,” Fields told Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Coach Danny was basically just trying to send a message that no matter who you are, you could be on special teams. He just used that as an example. I’m not here to do that, It was kind of a joke, to be honest with you. It’s funny how serious social media takes everything. It was kind of funny to me when everybody was making a big deal about it for no reason.”
I hope no one thought the potential starting QB of the Pittsburgh Steelers would be returning kicks, but that's the social climate in media today.
It makes for a great story with the NFL bringing back the return via a new kickoff rule, but Pittsburgh prepared for that when they signed Cordarrelle Patterson, Quez Watkins, and Scotty Miller, all of whom can return punts and kicks.
But even if Fields wanted to return kicks, the odds of him beating out one of the best returners in the history of the league via Cordarrelle Patterson are slim to none. A 4x Pro Bowler, 4x first-team All-Pro and member of the Hall of Fame 2010s team, Patterson reunited with new OC Arthur Smith mere hours after the NFL passed the new kickoff rule.
So, sorry to burst any bubbles, but the only thing Fields plans on returning in 2024 is the receipts of everyone who counted him out.
