Justin Fields

ESPN’s Brooke Pryor confirms the Steelers’ quarterback battle could be “more of a competition than it initially appeared.”

That’s as long as Fields can “make routine — and splash — plays consistently.” It’s just the latest report that Fields is running with the first-team opening created by Russell Wilson’s supposedly minor calf injury. With an aging, declining Wilson struggling to get on the field, Fields is predictably tantalizing with his big-play ability. As Pryor alludes to, he now needs to prove he has actually improved in the more routine aspects of quarterbacking. The reality is, for however flawed Fields is, Wilson is the kind of player teams can find reasons to bench.