Exactly 20 years ago, a rookie quarterback named Ben Roethlisberger was thrown into the starting lineup after an injury took out the Steelers’ starting quarterback. While he certainly had his moments that foreshadowed his future Hall of Fame career, Roethlisberger largely leaned on a dominant defense that year while winning each of his 12 regular season starts.
That experience might be part of why Roethlisberger feels the current Steelers should continue to stick with Justin Fields even if Russell Wilson is medically cleared to play in Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Fields, despite not putting up a ton of passing yards in Pittsburgh’s first two games, played an integral role in the Steelers’ first 2-0 start since 2020.
“If Russ is healthy, I’m sticking with Justin,” Roethlisberger said on his podcast. “I think that he has earned, deserves the right to stay there.”
Fields played well enough for the Steelers to become the franchise’s first team in 25 years to win their first two games that also happened to be on the road. He completed nearly 70% of his passes in those games as Pittsburgh registered road wins over Atlanta and Denver. The Steelers won despite the offense scoring just 18 and 13 points, respectively. Chris Boswell saved the day with six field goals in Atlanta, and penalties prevented Pittsburgh from scoring more this past Sunday in Denver.
The lack of points has led to some varying viewpoints regarding Fields’ performance in those games. Roethlisberger is part of the Steelers’ fan base who is encouraged with Fields’ play so far.
“So far, I like what I’ve seen,” Roethlisberger said of Fields. “I like that he’s getting into it. I like that he’s getting the feel of it. If you if you told me they’re 1-1 or 0-2 and these are going on, I say, ‘Yeah, we got to do something.’ But again, he’s not turning the ball over.”
Roethlisberger said keeping Fields in the starting lineup would give Wilson the opportunity to fully recover from his calf injury, which he aggravated two weeks ago after initially injuring it on the eve of training camp. On Fields, Roethlisberger pointed to the fact that the Steelers won both of their first two games with Fields, who did not commit a turnover in either contest.
“He’s been efficient. He’s been good with the ball,” Roethlisberger said. “So I think you’ve got to stay with him, I really do, and see what happens.”
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Roethlisberger acknowledged the fact that Fields hasn’t thrown for a ton of yards and the Steelers’ offense hasn’t scored a lot of points so far. That being said, Roethlisberger feels that Fields has performed well for someone who wasn’t supposed to be the starting quarterback.
“Would you like to see 400 yards and and three touchdowns and one rushing touchdown? Of course you would,” Roethlisberger said. “But you know what else you’re going to be happy with? You’ll be happy with a guy right now that wasn’t even really supposed to probably start this year, going 2-0, taking care of the football, making plays, sometimes out of nothing when guys are getting in.”
Fields may not be as polished as Wilson, but Roethlisberger pointed out how Fields’ game gives the Steelers’ offense an element it wouldn’t otherwise have. It paid dividends on Pittsburgh’s first scoring drive Sunday, as Fields evaded pressure and took off for a 16-yard gain.
“He’s another running back back there,” Roethlisberger said. “He’s huge.”
Roethlisberger talked about his rookie season when he replaced Tommy Maddox after Maddox went down with an injury in Week 2. While it wasn’t a season-ending injury, Maddox remained on the sideline as the Steelers continued to win and Roethlisberger continued to play well. The Steelers ended up winning a then-AFC record 15 games before losing to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. A year later, Roethlisberger became the youngest starting quarterback to win the Super Bowl.
Bill Cowher, the former Steelers Hall of Fame head coach, didn’t mess with his team’s momentum by going back to Maddox in 2004. Roethlisberger feels current Steelers lead man Mike Tomlin should do the same thing now.
“Once you get into a rhythm and you get good things going, you don’t want to mess that up,” Roethlisberger said. Let’s not mess up the rhythm of the team and what’s going on, and I think they’re building. They looked better this week than last week. If they continue to build, I think that that’s the move. You stay with it.”
Roethlisberger also provided a message for Fields, who said following Sunday’s win that he does not want to “give the position up.”
“I would tell him, the only stat that matters is a W and the turnovers,” he said. “You’re winning the turnover battle, and you’re winning. Don’t worry about what people are saying in terms of yards, in terms of touchdowns, in terms of all that. You’re winning. At the end of the day, as a quarterback, that’s what you want. I didn’t always put up big numbers, but I prided myself in getting wins, and that’s what you’re supposed to do.
“As a quarterback, you’re supposed to win football games by any means necessary.”
