Former Steelers quarterback’s early-season nightmare threatens career
It's not all his fault, but Justin Fields is discovering why leaving the Pittsburgh Steelers was a bad decision. Mike Tomlin appeared eager to move on from Fields and Russell Wilson this past offseason to pursue Aaron Rodgers as the quarterback in 2025. Tomlin got his wish, and it forced Fields and Wilson to sign elsewhere in free agency, leading to mixed results this season.
Pittsburgh has a bumpy 3-1 record with Rodgers at the helm, while Wilson got benched and Fields hasn't won a game yet this year. It was an awkward divorce between the Steelers and their quarterbacks last season, but many thought Fields could recover his career with the New York Jets. They are a young and upcoming team, but things have started to collapse in a hurry.
It probably makes Fields miss being a part of the Steelers, even if it's just a little.
The Jets hold a 0-5 record heading into the sixth week of the NFL season. That record does not reflect the quality of play that Fields has shown during his first year in New York. While he is producing solid numbers, one thing continues to haunt the draft bust: he cannot win enough games. At the end of the day, winning football games is what matters most for quarterbacks.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers' QB Justin Fields could struggle to keep his starting job
During his six starts with the Steelers, Fields didn’t put up flashy numbers, but he did lead the team to a 4–2 record before the switch to Wilson as the starter. It's a tough outcome for the former first-rounder. While he's now putting up bigger numbers, the wins aren't coming. New York doesn't match Pittsburgh's talent level, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Fields doesn't deserve to lose his job right now, but you cannot deny how he used the Steelers' fantastic defense last season as a crutch. He protected the football and executed safe, coach-directed plays to help win games. Now that he has free rein with the Jets, his production has increased, but he still struggles to win like he did with the Chicago Bears organization.
They could think that switching out the signal caller will produce better results.
Now that the Jets sit at a winless record, which is the only remaining winless team in the NFL, things could become desperate. They just paid Fields a handsome contract this past offseason, and he hasn't warranted being benched yet, but they might have to. When losses continue to stack up, a first-time Head Coach might feel a change at the quarterback spot is necessary.
It's not on Fields, as he hasn't been playing poorly for the most part. His defensive counterparts have been terrible. There's no denying his struggles to win games in the NFL, a consistent issue throughout his career. New York will keep him as their starting quarterback for now, but once jobs are on the line, that could change in a hurry.
Patrick Graham Puts Raiders Defense on Notice With Fiery Message: ‘I’m so Tired’
The Las Vegas Raiders‘ coaching staff has been a revolving door at most positions, but one person who has stuck around is defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. He’s survived three different regimes, and this is just his fourth season with the team.
There have been times when Graham has had the Raiders’ defense playing a very high level, but things are off to a tough start this season. The Raiders currently have a -6 turnover differential, which is the second-worst in the NFL.
It doesn’t help that quarterback Geno Smith leads the NFL with nine interceptions, but the Las Vegas defense only has four takeaways on the season. Graham appears to be getting frustrated with the continued struggles on defense for the Raiders.
He had a stern message for his defense ahead of the Week 6 game against the Tennessee Titans.
“I’m so tired — I’m trying to be mindful of my language — of talking about whatever it is we got to do,” Graham said during a Thursday press conference. “You just have to make it happen. You got to take the ball away. However it happens, that’s what we got to do.”
Graham Talks Replacing Germaine Pratt
Before the Raiders’ Week 5 game against the Colts, it was revealed that linebacker Germaine Pratt wasn’t traveling with the team. It didn’t take long for the team to announce that he was being released.
It’s still not clear exactly what happened, but it couldn’t have been performance-related, as Pratt was playing well for the team. For his part, Graham didn’t sound thrilled that he would no longer have Pratt to use and spoke about how the defense could go about replacing him.
“I’m looking forward to the defense stepping up, just in general,” Graham said. “Just the linebacker position, you know, it’s going to take all 11 out there. We’ll see who’s out there playing and things of that nature, but it’s going to take a, you know, good effort to replace a good player like that.”
Brian Callahan Talks Raiders Reunion
The Raiders host the Titans and head coach Brian Callahan in Week 6. Notably, Callahan was the team’s quarterback coach in 2018 and is the son of Bill Callahan, who is the last Raiders head coach to win a playoff game.
Callahan has fond memories of the Raiders and is looking forward to coaching against his former team.
“We’ve got a lot of Raiders on our staff,” Callahan said, via Raiders.com. “A lot of guys that have spent a lot of time there. I was in high school when my dad was there. They had a lot of success over those years and those were my first – I was a fan. I was a fan of the team. I was always excited to go. It was great environments to go play in when they were at the Coliseum in Oakland. Then I got a chance to go coach there for a year. I have fond memories in that silver and black and those gamedays and some of the wins over the years when I was following along as a high school kid and spending time there.”
