The offense looked better in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ last preseason game, but it was still far from perfect. One aspect that still has room for improvement is the offensive line, which is okay. Most of their starters are young players, so it makes sense that they aren’t perfect yet. After the preseason finale, Justin Fields said the offensive line did well, but that it still had room to grow. That’s not an insult. However, analyst Stephen A. Smith seems to have taken umbrage with those comments from Fields.
Addressing Fields’ comments on his personal podcast, Smith tore Fields apart.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Smith asked. “You’re fighting for a job in the league. You were in Chicago complaining about coaches and teammates. Now you’re sitting up there and throwing a little shade on the offensive line. Have you lost your mind? I’m not saying, ‘Justin Fields, you were wrong.’ I’m saying, ‘Here comes the time to shut the hell up.’”
It really seems like Smith is taking Fields’ words out of context. It isn’t like the offensive line had a tremendous game against the Detroit Lions. The group was better than it had been, but there were still errors. There was even another fumbled snap though it seems this one was more on miscommunication along the offensive line than at quarterback.
Smith is also claiming Fields was complaining about coaches and teammates when he was with the Chicago Bears. That feels like a baseless accusation. Maybe Fields did have comments about the way certain things were being done, but for what it’s worth, his former teammates have had nothing but good things to say about him.
Fields isn’t insulting the offensive linemen with his comments. He’s making a comment about how they’re young and still have room to improve. Zach Frazier and Troy Fautanu are rookies. Broderick Jones has played one year in the NFL. If those guys didn’t have room to grow, what would that say about them? It almost feels like more of an insult to say this is as good as they’ll ever get.
It also feels like Smith isn’t disagreeing with Fields’ comments, just being unhappy with him making them at all. That would be fair if Fields was actually criticizing them. He even prefaced those comments by saying that the offensive line did a fine job.
The Steelers offense as a whole is young and developing. What Fields said could be applied to almost all of those players. Smith took offense to these comments when it seems like not a single offensive lineman did. This tirade feels more like just an excuse for Smith to bash Fields. Fields’ teammates in Pittsburgh have also been nothing but complimentary of him too. Fields is not the bad teammate Smith is trying to paint him as.
