Justin Fields is entering his first season with the Pittsburgh Steelers after coming over from the Chicago Bears. But make no mistake, he came as a quarterback. Period.
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Fields felt the need to clarify that after there had been some buzz on social media that the Steelers could use him as a kick returner. As is often the case on social media, that buzz was eventually accepted as fact.
All of which brought a bit of a smile to Fields' face as he addressed the matter with NFL reporters on Wednesday. Apparently, the rumor was that special teams coach Danny Smith said Fields could return kicks.
"I think everybody kind of interpreted it wrong," Fields told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Coach Danny was basically just trying to send a message that no matter who you are, you could be on special teams. He just used that as an example.
"... It's funny how serious social media takes everything. It was kind of funny to me when everybody was making a big deal about it for no reason."
Teammate Jaylen Warren really got the rumor mill cooking, too. It was Warren who brought it all up during a podcast with Steelers teammate Cameron Hayward.
"As soon as you touch the ball, that's when everything starts to happen," Warren said. "Our special teams coordinator was talking about Justin Fields being back there. ... We looked at him like, Justin Fields will be back there? I think it's cool."
Fields has never returned kicks at any level of football. And his focus in Pittsburgh will be to get things going after three rocky seasons with the Bears.
"I'm taking it day by day," Fields told reporters last week. "I'm definitely competing. I think [Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson] knows that we're competing against each other every day. Him being out there for me, that helps me getting better, especially each other. I definitely don't have the mindset of me just sitting all year. I'm coming in every day giving it all I got and pushing him to be his best, and he's pushing me to be my best each and every day."
