This summer marks a pivotal spot for former Bears quarterback Justin Fields, who is competing for a starting spot in Pittsburgh against Russell Wilson.
And while he’s competing, the fourth-year quarterback is also learning and cultivating a relationship with the nine-time Pro Bowler and 2014 Super Bowl champion.
But Wilson’s been a fan of Fields well before their days as current teammates.
“I’ve always been a huge Justin fan. I’ve always loved watching his game,” Wilson said to Aaron Becker. “We’ve known each other for a while, actually. Even before we came here, and signed here, we were talking to each other in the offseason before all this and rooting for each other. I’ve got a lot of respect for his game and who he is as a player and a teammate. It’s a great thing to be together. We’re just elevating and just trying to be better every day.”
#Steelers QB Russell Wilson on continuing to grow his relationship with QB Justin Fields.“I think there’s a great obligation in this game, for me personally, to continue to give as much knowledge as I know. … I’ve always been a huge Justin fan.” pic.twitter.com/65GObErAHp
— Aaron Becker (@Aaron_M_Becker) June 11, 2024
As a longtime and successful veteran of the game, Wilson feels it’s also incumbent upon him to teach the game to the next generation of quarterbacks.
“I think there’s a great obligation in this game for me, personally, to continue to give as much knowledge as I know,” Wilson said. “I’ve been fortunate, in the midst of a lot of games, a lot of big moments and everything else. I love this game. I believe that much is given much is required. You’re constantly learning individually but you’re also learning by teaching as well.”
Both are competing to be under center for the Steelers. But offensive coordinator Aruthur Smith says Wilson is currently in the “pole position” to win the job off the bat. Pole position doesn’t mean Wilson’s won the job. But the longtime veteran definitely has a head start.
Smith, however, said it’s fun for him to craft an offense with two new, different quarterbacks. He’d prefer that over an play-calling job with an established quarterback who was there before him.
“It’s probably easier than if you get a job like this and there’s a guy that’s maybe been here 10 years,” Smith said. “They may have a certain way they’ve done things. . . . We’re all new. And so that’s been fun.”
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Aaron Rodgers missed chance to send message to teammates about what his coach calls “Phase Me”ProFootball Talk On NBC SportsSun, Jun 16, 2024, 9:57 AM EDT·3 min read18The biggest, and most unlikely, story of the week came from the Jets, where quarterback Aaron Rodgers capped his “bullshit that has nothing to do with winning needs to get out of the building” offseason by skipping the two-day mandatory minicamp.
It sparked a debate between those who thought it was a big deal and those who made a big deal out of complaining about those who thought it was a big deal. Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner, for example, said this on X: “Are y’all really making a big deal because a 15+ year HOF QB missed 2 days of practice after being with the team all throughout Phase 1, 2, & 3 of OTA’s??”
Of course, it’s not just practice. It’s mandatory minicamp. The centerpiece of the offseason program. The two days (the Jets reduced it from three) that everyone is required to be present.
It was also the last two days of the offseason program. And it culminated in an important message to the locker room at large. On Wednesday, coach Robert Saleh addressed the significance of the weeks between the end of the offseason program and the launch of training camp.
“We’ve always called the next part — so, after this, is Phase Me,” Saleh told reporters. “You’ve got Phase 1, 2, 3, now Phase Me. And it’s the 40 days off and it’s a great opportunity for the individual player to be selfish to himself. It’s a great opportunity to create separation on the competition with the way they approach the offseason. You can go to the beach and party and drink, or you can hit the gym and hydrate. There’s different ways everyone approaches these next 40 days. And you can gain ground on your competition, you can separate from your competition, or you can lose your entire ’24 season with the way you approach these next 40. So the message is to be deliberate and to attack this thing and to put yourself in position to be great in ’24.”
When communicating that message, is it better to have a 15-year Hall of Fame quarterback present to reinforce it? Is it better if he hasn’t already started “Phase Me” by putting himself ahead of the team and missing the mandatory minicamp?
If Saleh’s message is as important as he says it is, who better to reinforce it than the guy who has been doing this for 20 years?
“It’s not a half the time thing, it’s not a sometimes thing, it’s not a most of the time thing, it’s an every time thing. If you want to be a winning organization, and to put yourself in position to win championships and be competitive, everything that you do matters.”
That’s what Rodgers said in January, just before he said that “bullshit that has nothing to do with winning needs to get out of the building.”
Many tried to downplay Rodgers’s absence by saying it will have nothing to do with the football season to come. While there won’t be a bright-line connection, little things can make a dotted-line difference.
Beyond the fact that Rodgers wasn’t there for two days of practice during which something might have happened on the field that could be built upon later, Rodgers wasn’t there to hammer home the significance of devoting the break to making more gains, not pissing away the gains that have been made.
“It’s not a half the time thing, it’s not a sometimes thing, it’s not a most of the time thing, it’s an every time thing. If you want to be a winning organization, and to put yourself in position to win championships and be competitive, everything that you do matters.”
We won’t know whether Rodgers could have sent the message more effectively than Saleh did. We won’t know whether the Jets would have been better inspired to do all the right things during the break, if they’d heard it from Saleh and from Rodgers. And if the Jets struggle when camp begins and/or the season starts, it won’t be obvious that Rodgers’s absence from mandatory minicamp contributed to it.
Regardless, at a time when he could have delivered an impassioned plea to teammates to put the team above themselves over the next 40 days, Rodgers put himself above the team. And if you think that has no impact on the team, you really need to think again.
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Jets’ Hall recalls ‘overly competitive’ college friendship with PurdyAngelina MartinSun, Jun 16, 2024, 3:50 PM EDT·3 min readJets’ Hall recalls ‘overly competitive’ college friendship with Purdy originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Former Iowa State roommates Brock Purdy and Breece Hall are set to face each other for the first time in the NFL this coming season, when the 49ers welcome the New York Jets to Levi’s Stadium in Week 1.
The Jets running back was asked about the big “Monday Night Football” showdown and his cousin, 49ers legend Roger Craig, by reporters this week, revealing the nature of his college friendship with Purdy while noting the two haven’t spoken ahead of their first game of the 2024 NFL season.
“Nah, I haven’t [spoken to Purdy] yet,” Hall told reporters after noting facing San Francisco in Week 1 will be a good measuring stick for himself and the Jets. “Me and him are actually overly competitive with each other, so even in college when we played Madden and stuff, whoever won, we wouldn’t talk to each other for the rest of the day.
“So that’s how it’s going to be until after the game.”
Jets RB Breece Hall, who is cousins with 49ers legend Roger Craig, talks about playing against San Francisco in week 1:“Playing the 49ers, Brock [Purdy] was my roommate in college and everything.”Breece was asked if he spoke to Brock since the schedule came out:“Na, I… pic.twitter.com/d43HK4OlZt
— Coach Yac 🗣 (@Coach_Yac) June 15, 2024
Hall was teammates with Purdy for three seasons at Iowa State, where the pair helped lead one of the most successful stretches in the program’s history.
And it’s clear that despite their “overly competitive” nature, Hall and Purdy share a fun-loving friendship that certainly will be put on pause as the former Cyclones face off on the gridiron. But off of it, the college roommates have been known to go to bat for each other, with Hall defending Purdy last season when the 49ers quarterback hit a rough patch before San Francisco’s bye week in 2023.
“It’s nothing that he hasn’t been through before,” Hall told “The Rich Eisen Show” last season. “At Iowa State, we weren’t perfect. We lost some games, we lost some close games, nail-biters and stuff. He had some heartbreaking plays. I know him. He takes it to heart. He’s going to rebound. He’s going to play better. I know he is, and I’m not worried about him at all. He’s still a great guy, a great quarterback, and I’m excited to see what he does this season.”
Purdy rebounded indeed, as the 49ers finished the regular season 12-5 and as the NFC’s No. 1 seed before losing Super Bowl LVIII to the Kansas City Chiefs.
In 2024, Purdy and Co. will be looking to bounce back and return to the big game — this time, hopefully, hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy at its end. But first, the 49ers will have to make it through Hall, Aaron Rodgers and the rest of the Jets to start it all.
