Though it sounds like the Pittsburgh Steelers and Buffalo Bills are avoiding the fisticuffs seen in other joint practices around the league, there was at least a small skirmish that took place during Thursday’s practice.
According to reporters covering, including ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, the PPG’s Ray Fittipaldo, and freelance reporter Amanda Godsey, the Steelers’ offensive line wasn’t happy with Bills LB Dorian Williams and the Buffalo defense after QB Justin Fields went to the ground after one throw.
Little scuffle breaks out after Dorian Williams bats down Justin Fields’ pass, but nothing major. Williams flexed after the play and Steelers OL took exception to it.
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) August 15, 2024
Little scuffle at Steelers-Bills joint practice as Justin Fields goes to the ground in the pocket after releasing the ball. Nothing major. Just some pushing and shoving.
— Ray Fittipaldo (@rayfitt1) August 15, 2024
Fields has a pass batted and he catches it himself.
Things get a little chippy between the Steelers and Bills but it quickly dissipated.
— Amanda Godsey (@AmandaFGodsey) August 15, 2024
It doesn’t sound on the level of what took place during Steelers training camp when a full-on fight broke out after LB Elandon Roberts bumped Fields to the ground, causing rookies Troy Fautanu, Mason McCormick, and most of the offense to intervene.
While that skirmish crossed a few lines, it was important to see the Steelers’ young offensive line stick up for their quarterback and illustrative of the tough and old-school offense the organization is trying to build.
According to these tweets, it sounds like Fields’ pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage. Assuming so, that makes a dozen of his throws batted down since the start of training camp. Fields has had a strong and ascending summer overall, but this has been a recurring problem since he reported to Latrobe, once even admitting it was an issue.
One day after camp broke in Latrobe, the Steelers are holding their joint practice at Acrisure Stadium. It is closed to the public, the reason we aren’t in attendance providing news and updates.
Per Pryor, things also got “chippy” during a special teams session.
No true fights an hour into Steelers-Bills joint practice, but the special teams punt period got a liiiiittle chippy.
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) August 15, 2024
Based on media reports, Fields and Wilson have alternated first-team reps from period to period. Wilson received the initial nod during Seven Shots while Fields got the go-ahead and took most of the reps during the run-oriented portion of practice. Mike Tomlin has kept the competition open and hasn’t yet announced who will start Saturday night’s game against the Bills. Tomlin is likely to hold a press conference tomorrow where he could provide an update.
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