The Pittsburgh Steelers probably took a gamble in signing Aaron Rodgers, but Justin Fields is proving why they didn’t want to trust him with the offense in a pivotal season in Mike Tomlin’s career. Though it is just practice, ahead of the New York Jets’ first preseason game, Fields is looking more like his Chicago self, rather than a polished starting quarterback.
The Jets invested everything in Fields and in his last three practices, he’s combined 8-for-32 with an interception. That isn’t exactly conducive to winning games in New York. Sure things can change and I’m sure they will. But right now, he’s proving the Steelers right for giving up on him after last season.
It also shows why the Steelers were hesitant to unleash him the first six games of 2024 while Russell Wilson was rehabbing from injury. Fields has a lot of work to do before he can prove to Jets fans that he’s the right guy; and to prove to Steelers fans they made a mistake by letting him go. So far, he’s failing at both.
Justin Fields is in a make-or-break season with the New York Jets with marginal room for error
Aaron Glenn rolled out the red carpet for Fields. He did away with Rodgers before the new league year started, they committed to Fields by not drafting a quarterback high in the 2025 NFL Draft and they made sure the weapons around him were plentiful. The room for error is so small for him, it shouldn’t surprise you why there’s so much criticism during practice.
Fields struggling in practice doesn’t really mean much now as it’s still early season and until he gets some preseason action, won’t really know how his season could go. The good thing is by Week 1, we’ll know which side got the better end of the Fields situation. The Jets open the season against the Steelers.
The quarterback that gets the win and outplays the other will prove their respective team made the right decision. So as much as we may criticize Fields now, what he does Week 1 will determine if the Jets were right to believe in him. He’ll have the ultimate chance to show Steelers fans what they missed out on.
The Jets are starving for a return to the playoffs and postseason success. They went all in with Rodgers to do that and nearly regressed rather than progressed. It’s Fields’ turn to progress this Jets team this season. Anything less than a win over his former team and a winning season and it will prove the Steelers were right to abandon him.