Falcons HC heeds HC Mike Tomlin's warning regarding preparations for Steelers QB Justin Fields
The Pittsburgh Steelers are just days away from traveling south to kick off their 2024 season against the Atlanta Falcons. Two squads who don't have a ton of history, the same can't be said for their respective head coaches, dating back nearly two decades. So after Mike Tomlin threw some bait out for his old […]
The Pittsburgh Steelers are just days away from traveling south to kick off their 2024 season against the Atlanta Falcons.
Two squads who don't have a ton of history, the same can't be said for their respective head coaches, dating back nearly two decades.
So after Mike Tomlin threw some bait out for his old friend Raheem Morris, the Falcons HC came back at him in full form:
Be Ready for Justin Fields?
"My friend Raheem Morris better be ready for a Justin Fields package," Tomlin said during a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show. "I don't want to disclose any strategic approaches, but there's too much talent to be sitting around watching all day."
Russell Wilson was always, and always will be, the team's starting QB. His leash or how long it is, is the next thing that people are debating, but if we know anything about his relationship with HC Mike Tomlin, barring a catastrophic collapse or injury, Wilson will start as long as possible.
But Justin Fields showed significant progression regarding the nuances of the game while boasting perhaps the best athletic profile of any signal caller in the league this preseason.
Beginning his prime at 25 years old, the prolific QB is too dynamic of an athlete to just watch from the sidelines, something Falcons HC Raheem Morris has to at least think about:
"Mike told me to prepare for Justin Fields, so we did," Morris said in his preview presser. "Russell's gonna be able to go out there and present the challenge he's always presented to teams…but there are roles that guys are gonna play, so expect the expected. And that's what we'll do. So we'll go out there and prepare. There's a lot of unknowns in this game just in general, and it'd be a rules-type of game. Rules ball for them and for us…
"…That's a nice way to make me waste time, and he's the master at it," Morris said. "He's conducting a master class on Fields, or he's not and Fields is gonna show up."
A little gamesmanship among two longtime friends, Coach Tomlin could be aiming to keep his former protege on his toes, or he might be setting him up for a potential headache.
Either way, as Coach Tomlin told The Pivot Podcast when asked about facing one of his best friends, and this time as a HC again…
"Once that ball is kicked off, he becomes a nameless grey face."
