PITTSBURGH — Justin Fields paused, trying to think of the right words. When they didn't come, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't think we're one of those teams looking for an identity," Fields said following a 20-17 loss to Dallas that dropped the Steelers to 3-2. "We know who we are."
After another tight loss, one the ended early Monday, it's fair to wonder if that's true, maybe in part because Fields' boss has spent the last few weeks deflecting questions about the most important position in the sport.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has gone out of his way to avoid making any declarations about who the team's starting quarterback is, repeatedly calling it a "hypothetical" while Russell Wilson — who earned the gig coming out of training camp — slowly recovers from a calf injury suffered a couple of days before the season opener.
That mindset has put Fields in a tricky position. He took significant steps forward in each of Pittsburgh's first five games, evolving from game manager to dynamic playmaker in the process. While Tomlin has praised Fields' play, he repeatedly stopped short of naming Fields the full-time starter regardless of Wilson's status.
That decision may be shrewd in an era when few quarterbacks make all 17 starts, especially in Pittsburgh, which hasn't had a QB1 go wire-to-wire since 2018. Yet it also has forced Fields into a high-wire act where each week feels like a tryout of sorts.
Though he demurred recently when asked if there was any more pressure than usual heading into the Dallas game because Wilson appears to be nearing a return, Fields took a significant step back against the Cowboys, completing just 15 of 27 passes for 131 yards.
While Fields did throw a pair of touchdowns — including a 6-yard shovel pass to Pat Freiermuth with 4:56 to go that put the Steelers in front — he also oversaw another listless first half that forced Pittsburgh into catch-up mode. He missed a couple of shots down the field in the first quarter and struggled to get into a rhythm with wide receiver George Pickens, who caught just three of the seven passes thrown his way.
Tomlin has grown increasingly agitated about his team's sluggish starts. It cost them in Indianapolis — which sprinted to a 17-0 lead — and should have cost them more than it actually did against Dallas. Only a pair of red zone turnovers by Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott prevented the Steelers from being down multiple scores going into the break.
Things did improve a bit in the second half, but Pittsburgh managed all of 226 yards of total offense against a Dallas defense missing stars Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence. That can't be the norm going forward.
Which leads back to identity. Tomlin's choice to not back one quarterback over the other has led to a feeling of indecisiveness. The Steelers don't have a particular identity in part because Tomlin hasn't given them one. He has two very different quarterbacks with two very different skill sets at two very different points in their careers.
The sooner Tomlin lands on one QB , the sooner Pittsburgh can move forward with certainty and maybe build a foundation that feels firmer than the one Fields is standing on at the moment.
