The Pittsburgh Steelers are still in the middle of figuring out their quarterback situation for the 2024 season, and during their first preseason game on Friday night, it was third-string quarterback Kyle Allen who drew the majority of snaps. But Justin Fields was the one who started off the game for the Steelers, and things didn’t exactly go according to plan for him in their 20-12 loss to the Houston Texans.

This is not to say that Fields stunk up the joint on Friday. He made an impressive play to avoid a sack and a major loss, throwing a clean dot towards the waiting arms of Najee Harris, who gained the Steelers 16 yards on that occasion. On the night, he completed five of his six passing attempts for 67 yards. Alas, none of the drives he helmed led to points, thanks in large part to a few hiccups between him and center Nate Herbig, for which the 25-year-old quarterback blames himself.

“We were shooting ourselves in the foot — all three phases, fumbled snaps,” Fields said, per Brian Batko of Post-Gazette Sports.

Indeed, Justin Fields has a lot to clean up in his game still. In addition to all the fumbled snaps, he also suffered two sacks on two separate third downs, forcing the Steelers to punt the football. Fields, in 13 starts for the Chicago Bears last season, was sacked 44 times — an average of 3.38 times per game, which was among the worst marks in the league.

If Fields were to become the Steelers’ QB1 amid Russell Wilson’s bout with injuries, he has to figure out how to cut the mistakes from his game that have taken away from the talent he has and has relegated his impact to become lesser than the sum of its parts.

How does the Steelers’ QB1 situation look like?

Russell Wilson has a track record of success in the NFL, and the Steelers are looking to be the team that facilitates a career revival of sorts from the 35-year-old quarterback. Despite starting Justin Fields on Friday night, Mike Tomlin said that the depth chart the Steelers released is “real”, implying that Wilson is still slated to start on opening night.

Wilson is currently dealing with a calf strain. But if all goes according to plan, the Steelers will be starting him on August 17 in their preseason game against the Buffalo Bills. Fields, however, should keep his head up, with Tomlin saying that everything is a competition and that he can still usurp Wilson on the depth chart so long as he impresses on the field. Alas, the mistake-filled preseason opener may not do too much to further the 25-year-old quarterback’s case to become QB1.