Some Pittsburgh Steelers beat reporters are working overtime in the NFL’s dead period to do PR damage control on Justin Fields. Reports coming out last week on Fields’ performance during OTAs this spring didn’t make the former Chicago Bears quarterback look good.
Former Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields was labeled a “loser”
As previously discussed on CCS, Mark Kaboly with The Athletic labeled Fields a “loser” of the Steelers OTAs. Here’s the direct quote from the article in question from Kaboly:
Don’t get bent out of shape with Fields finding himself on this list. His talent speaks for itself. But unlike Wilson, he has a lot of obstacles to overcome for an opportunity this year. Fields didn’t get many first-team reps, and that’s significant come training camp.
More than that, you can see what made him a first-round pick … and also what made the Chicago Bears move on. The arm strength, speed and playmaking with his legs are undeniable. However, he showed inconsistent accuracy and relied on his feet too quickly after the first read. That stuff can be fixed, but maybe not throughout a training camp.
We ran with the story, and so did several other Chicago sports news outlets, and for good reason. The Bears have a conditional sixth-round pick on the line with the Steelers. How Fields does in Pittsburgh is important news to Bears fans.
Kaboly’s narrative on Fields went viral as it should. Kaboly deserves respect as a legend in his craft. But the fallout from the report appears to be making Steelers beat reporters nervous. Kaboly posted a cryptic message on X last week as the Fields story went viral:
“If your thing is to aggregate (that’s fine, and it doesn’t bother me), all I ask is to get it correct,” Kaboly wrote.
Pittsburgh Steelers beat reporter spins Kaboly’s message on Fields
Nick Farabuagh with Steelers Now wrote a piece about the “real story” of Fields’ performance at OTAs. Farabaugh wrote that Kaboly’s report was nothing to see, as Fields being a “loser” has more to do with Wilson getting a significant number of first-team reps over Fields:
I will be blunt: there is nothing particularly buzzy about that excerpt. The second to last sentence caught people’s eye, where Kaboly notes Fields’ inconsistent accuracy and, at times, questionable processing. Kaboly never outright said that Fields struggled but listed negatives that he faced relative to his competition with Wilson. However, it has undoubtedly been interpreted in that context.
There are several problems with Farabaugh’s spin. Respectfully to Farabaugh and Kaboly, there were 90 players to label as winners or losers, and Kaboly named Fields a loser for a reason. Secondly, the fact that Wilson was getting so many more first-team reps over Fields tells us much about what the Steelers coaching staff saw in the evolution of their program this spring.
One wonders why readers must see the word “struggled” to understand that’s what the author intended to mean. “Inconsistent accuracy” and giving up on a play after a first read are signs that Fields showed he has serious flaws (as a fourth-year QB) at practice. And if those words aren’t to be taken as signs of struggling by an audience, then why write any supporting evidence on Fields being a “loser” at all besides giving the differential in the first-team snap count between the two quarterbacks?
Furthermore, Kaboly also wrote he saw what made the Bears move on. What is a thinking audience supposed to make of that comment? (Which wasn’t in the second to last sentence.)
Kaboly’s report wasn’t the only troubling update on Fields’ execution this spring to come out in the last week. Mike DeFabo with The Athletic said Fields “doesn’t often shine” during 7-on-7 drills. (Is that also not a “struggle” because DeFabo didn’t use the precise word?)
A different take on Fields’ performance this spring
Farabuagh had a different take on Fields’ performance this spring than the narrative that went viral last week:
So, what did he look like? I was pretty impressed by some of the throws that Fields made. The arm talent is dazzling, and it’s not hard to see why he was a first-round pick. He fits balls into tight windows all over the field, and I thought his deep ball looked fantastic. Considering he is one of the most prolific deep ball passers of the last few seasons in the NFL, that tracks.
When it came to what Justin Fields did well, it was his arm talent, instant acceleration and elusiveness, and transparent leadership to the guys he worked with throughout the offseason phases.
I don’t mean this as an attack on Farabaugh or Kaboly. I respect both reporters for the hard work they do to bring us news on the sport we love. But I’m asking for more concise reports that aren’t open to such a mass misinterpretation. The audience’s interpretation of Fields as a “loser” during OTAs was not their fault.
We’ll see the truth about where Fields and Wilson are when preseason starts. Until then, readers need to trust what reporters put on the page. Please do so carefully and clearly.
