PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers are still adjusting to several new components on offense, as offensive coordinator Arthur Smith works to familiarize himself with his personnel and environment. Consequently, the Steelers’ quarterbacks, including Justin Fields, currently have some restrictions in place.
The extent of the freedom Smith grants Fields or Russell Wilson was unclear until Thursday when Fields discussed how much control he has at the line of scrimmage to change plays. While Fields can adjust routes and calls on passing plays based on defensive coverages, he mentioned that on run plays, he cannot and has no plans to change them.
“It depends on the play call, but if we have a run called, we stick with it. Our offense doesn’t operate that way. I fully trust Arthur to put us in the right situation at the right time,” Fields said Thursday.
That doesn’t mean Fields is powerless if faced with a bad defensive alignment. He and Smith have pre-established situations where they’ll “can” the original call and switch to an alternate play. So while Fields can adjust the play, his freedom is still directed by Smith’s strategy, which is common for quarterbacks who aren’t yet established as franchise stars.
“There are some plays where I can check into a different option based on coverage or a specific look, but most of our run plays have contingencies depending on what we see,” Fields explained.
This shows that Fields and Smith already have an operational system in place, and Fields is even independently setting protections. As Smith’s trust in Fields grows, more freedom will follow.
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