EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — A year ago, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields were the top two quarterbacks at Pittsburgh Steelers training camp vying for the starting role.
This week, they were back on the same field together in the same market, but with different teams — with Wilson installed as the starter for the New York Giants and Fields filling the same spot for the Jets.
"It's kind of crazy how it worked out," Fields said.
Two joint practices — one at each team's facility — before the Giants and
Jets face off in the preseason on Saturday night gave Wilson and Fields the chance to catch up however briefly before again going their separate ways.
Rivals no more, they were able to connect and wish each other the best — in separate conferences, with their collective history behind them.
“He’s a great friend, great teammate,” Wilson said. “I loved playing with him and I know he’s going to have a great year.”
Their time together had its ups and downs. Wilson was given the starting job out of camp, then a calf injury sidelined him for the first six weeks, opening the door for Fields to play, winning four of the six games he started.
Wilson got healthy and took over, starting every game the rest of the way, while Fields tweaked a hamstring and was relegated to backup duty through a wild-card playoff defeat. During the process of coming to peace with that, Fields learned some things from his older counterpart along the way.
“Just how he goes about his everyday business, you can really see how he operates and stuff like that,” Fields said after practice Tuesday at the Jets' facility in Florham Park, New Jersey. “Really just trying to take bits of pieces of what he does and implement it into my game, my routine and everything like that.”
Fields agreed to join the Jets on March 10 after they announced they were releasing Aaron Rodgers, who later signed with Pittsburgh. Wilson did the same with the Giants a little over two weeks later. That coincidence came up initially, but they haven't talked about it much since.
That doesn't mean they don't talk. Their relationship dates to Fields' time in college from 2018-20, by which time Wilson already had established himself in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with Seattle.
“He's been awesome: an awesome mentor, an awesome person,” Fields said. “It was great learning from him last year and great being in the same room as him last year.”
Their dynamic has evolved over the years, including sharing a locker room together in Pittsburgh. Wilson called that chance “a tremendous honor in the quarterback club."
“I really admire his work ethic, admire his friendship and who we (were) as teammates and we’ll forever be connected,” Wilson said. “He’s tremendously talented, and I’ll always have his back and all that and vice versa.”
Fields feels the same, believing he could reach out to Wilson for advice and receive it with no hesitation, even though they're no longer with the same organization.
They're still in the same area after signing with the New York teams that call northern New Jersey home for games and practices. Still, the two haven't gotten the chance to hang out for an extended period of time or break bread over dinner to talk about glory days.
They probably won't now, with the season on the verge of getting underway, but they're glad they found favorable landing spots.
“We were just happy for each other,” Fields said. “Both happy that we were able to find a new home.”
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AP Pro Football Writer Dennis Waszak Jr. contributed to this report.
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