First Call: Bears GM praises Justin Fields; cornerback some Steelers fans wanted is going elsewhere; Jeff Capel still sore over snub
Wednesday’s “First Call” has some encouraging comments from the NFC North about new Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Justin Fields.
A cornerback some Steelers fans wanted to see come to Pittsburgh is heading to Los Angeles instead. There was a surprising vote against the NFL’s new kickoff rule.
And Pitt’s Jeff Capel explains why he isn’t watching the NCAA Tournament.
Poles pumps up Fields
Appearing on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Tuesday,
“You’re getting a great kid,” Poles said. “He works his butt off, he’s dynamic. We’ve all seen that in terms of how he moves. The person is outstanding. You won’t be wrong there at all.”
Those comments from Poles are on the heels of what he had to say Monday when he told reporters that trading Fields was “one of the harder things” he’s had to do, but “he thought it was necessary for the organization.”
Presumably, the Bears will now pick USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick.
“We felt like (the trade to Pittsburgh) was the best for the organization and for Justin. I said at the combine we wanted to do right by him. We did that,” Poles said via Fox 32 in Chicago.
Poles said perhaps the toughest part for him was explaining to his own son that Fields had been traded. Poles said his son has Fields’ jersey hanging on his wall at home.
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• Jake Guentzel addresses departure from Penguins: 'My intention was to stay'
Outside opinion
Having a coach, general manager or teammate say good things about a former player is one thing. But when an opposing coach pumps someone up, that may mean a little bit more.
Take, for instance, Lions coach Dan Campbell. As posted at SteelersDepot.com, during a media session in Orlando at the NFL meetings, Campbell said: “I’m not gonna lie, it’s nice to have Fields out of that division.”
Fields only went 2-3 against the Lions with the Bears, but he posted 1,293 yards of total offense and eight touchdowns.
Are you serious, @justnfields?! ????
????: #DETvsCHI on FOX pic.twitter.com/aNYLmrOpSx
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) November 13, 2022
The Steelers don’t face any teams from the NFC North this year. Now we’ll see how Campbell and the Lions do against Williams twice a year.
So much for that
For those who wanted to see the Steelers sign former Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White, that’s not happening.
The two-time Pro Bowl cornerback is signing with the Los Angeles Rams. According to NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo, it’s a one-year deal that can be worth up to $10 million.
White was second in defensive Rookie of the Year balloting in 2017 and was named an All-Pro in 2019 after collecting six interceptions. Because of ACL and Achilles injuries, though, White has played just 21 games over the past three years. He is now 29 years old.
Some Steelers fans thought White may be a good fit for the constantly corner-starved Steelers. But the Rams are in need of DB help too. They allowed 231.1 passing yards per game last season. That ranked 20th in the NFL.
Interesting twist
The NFL’s new kickoff rule passed 29-3 via a vote among the owners. It’s adapted from an XFL format.
The ball will continue to be kicked off from the 35-yard line. The other 10 players (besides the kicker) on the kicking team will line up at the opposing 40. Members of the return unit will start the play between the 30- and 35-yard lines in the setup zone. The returners (no more than two) will begin in “the landing zone,” which starts at the goal line and ends at the 20.
No player movement is permitted until the ball is caught or touches the ground. A touchback will result in the ball being placed at the 30. A touchback in which the ball hits in the landing zone and rolls out of the end zone will give possession at the 20.
Here’s what it looks like in the XFL.
The NFL just passed a new kickoff rule that will look like this, per @AdamSchefter
pic.twitter.com/VcQs7QrSto— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 26, 2024
Art Rooney II and the Steelers grudgingly went along with the change.
One team that voted against the idea was the Green Bay Packers. That’s a surprising twist because Green Bay has two-time All-Pro kick returner Keisean Nixon.
Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy says (via PackersWire.com) the reason he voted against the change is that he wanted to see a trial run for the rule in preseason games instead of diving feet first into making it restructured for regular-season play.
“Our issue was that it’s such a major change,” Murphy said. “Our thought was it makes sense, really, to have (it) as a trial or experiment in the preseason to see some unintended consequences. I just felt it made sense to have a trial.”
However, Murphy pointed out that this was just a one-year rule and that it could be reevaluated before next season.
I’ll pass
Pitt coach Jeff Capel is still so upset about his Panthers being left out of the NCAA Tournament that he isn’t taking in any of the March Madness broadcasts.
“It’s incredibly disappointing,” Capel said on 93.7 The Fan on Sunday. “I haven’t watched any (NCAA Tournament) games. This is the first time in my life I haven’t watched because of how difficult it is.”
Capel pointed to his team’s 12-3 record down the stretch as a reason why he felt the Panthers should’ve been included.
“We’ve made big jumps, even though we didn’t qualify or get selected for the NCAA Tournament,” Capel said. “This was a really good season. It was a season of growth. Back-to-back 20-win teams, we had 22 wins, one more than last year. We finished in the top four in the ACC.”
Of the five ACC teams that did qualify for the NCAA Tournament, four of them (Duke, North Carolina, Clemson and NC State) are still alive in the Sweet 16.
Capel also is chapped at the fact that the transfer portal opens so soon after the conference tournaments are done.
“You have people making decisions about college basketball that don’t know anything about our sport,” Capel said.
Two Panthers — center Federiko Federiko and forward Will Jeffress — have already entered the portal.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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