Mike Tomlin takes every step necessary to ruin Justin Fields' confidence in Steelers

Justin Fields has been one of the pleasant surprises of the early NFL season. Cast out of Chicago to make way for Caleb Williams and stuck behind Russell Wilson on the Pittsburgh Steelers depth chart for most of the summer, it was an open question whether the former 11th overall pick would ever find a starting job again.

But Wilson's calf injury ahead of Week 1 opened the door, and Fields has barged through it, completing a career-high 73.3 percent of his passes for 518 yards with two touchdowns and one interception over his first three starts (while adding another 90 yards and a score on the ground). Nothing flashy, sure, but it's been more than good enough to let Pittsburgh's star-studded defense shine en route to a 3-0 record that has the Steelers looking like legitimate AFC contenders.

You'd think that the wins and good vibes would have settled the question of who Pittsburgh's quarterback would be moving forward, regardless of Wilson's health. Mike Tomlin, however, apparently disagrees — and how he's handling his team's QB situation threatens to derail what's been a very promising start to 2024.

Mike Tomlin refuses to hand Justin Fields the keys for good

When asked about the quarterback position at his press conference on Tuesday, Tomlin declined to name Fields the starter moving forward. Instead, he opted to kick the can down the road, saying that such a designation wasn't necessary until Wilson is healthy enough to play — adding that he'd only be willing to make a decision "when Russ gets to an appropriate point of health."

On the one hand, you can sort of understand Tomlin's logic here. Wilson was apparently the more impressive of the two passers during training camp, and he earned the Week 1 nod for a reason. Fields, on the other hand, has been notoriously inconsistent over his NFL career. Why paint yourself into a corner until you absolutely have to? But that line of thinking ignores the reality of the situation, and it runs the risk of torpedoing Fields' confidence and the morale of Pittsburgh's locker room.

Justin Fields deserves to not have to look over his shoulder

It was easy to understand why Fields failed to win the starting job out of camp based on his checked history with the Bears. But he's looked like a new quarterback under offensive coordinator Arthur Smith's tutelage in Pittsburgh, remedying the flaws that most consistently got him into trouble in Chicago: He's not holding onto the ball nearly as long, he's not risking turnovers and he's more willing to attack the middle of the field.

All of those qualities were on display in the Steelers' Week 3 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, in which Fields went 25-of-32 for 245 yards with one touchdown passing and another rushing — his best performance yet this season, and one that stood in stark contrast to when we last saw him with the Bears.

If Fields can marry this more patient, more responsible decision-making with his obvious athletic gifts, he becomes a perfectly respectable NFL starter. And more importantly, it erases the presumed gap between Fields and Wilson. Russ isn't in Fields' universe as an athlete at this point in his career, and his arm talent has diminished considerably since he left the Seahawks. If Fields has improved as a processor, what's the argument for going back to Wilson once he's healthy? All arrows point to Fields as Pittsburgh's future — at least in the short-term — and by refusing to acknowledge that reality, all Tomlin is doing is running the risk of harming his QB's confidence.

Fields has done everything the coaches have asked of him, and delivered exactly what this team needs for three straight weeks now. To be told that all of that still isn't enough to earn a vote of confidence has to be frustrating, and it's not hard to imagine Fields lapsing back into some old habits as he presses to try and earn the job that should rightfully be his already.