Steelers quarterback Justin Fields and center Nate Herbig have been working together throughout training camp, but it didn’t feel that way when they took the field for Friday night’s preseason opener.
Fields and Herbig missed two snaps in the team’s first seven offensive plays against the Texans. They didn’t lose any fumbles, but they cost the Steelers chances to make plays and coach Mike Tomlin said they mitigated any positives he saw from Fields in his three series of work.
“I thought he I did some cool things,” Tomlin said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com. “But obviously he was a component of the CQ switch, and from my perspective, that’s a dual responsibility of the center and the quarterback. It negated a lot of good things that happened on those early trips.”
Fields went 5-of-6 for 67 yards and rushed three times for two yards, while also taking two snaps and failing to lead the Steelers to points before exiting the game. Russell Wilson’s return from a calf injury has been progressing and full participation would mean a return to Fields’ second team in the near future.