'They pulled Beanie Bishop aside': Cam Heyward praises Justin Fields' 'individual' leadership style

There are many different ways to lead a group of men. There is no one-size-fits-all approach that is effective in every setting to convey a message to every individual. Some will scream and shout and give rah-rah speeches while others lead by example, and these are just two of the many ways to be an effective leader.

Justin Fields is only 25 years old and is still developing greatly as a player and leader, especially now that he is working in a new organization with a much more established culture and way of working. He appears to be taking a different approach to leadership, or one more in line with what one would expect from leaders of a football team.

On Cam Heyward's “Not Just Football” podcast, Heyward and Fields discussed Russell Wilson's leadership and how he constantly supports the team from the sidelines, even when he's out with an injury.

Fields described the leadership dynamic between the two and how great it was for him to be with Wilson. Wilson has a wealth of experience and knowledge that Fields is eager to learn from. Although some members of the media are trying to paint a picture of a possible rift in the locker room in the future, the situation in this quarterback room appears to be truly great. Fields also expressed his preference for a more individual approach to leadership.

“Russ is super vocal, super boom, boom boom, he’s always talking like he does every day,” Fields said. “I like to do my rounds behind the scenes, trying to talk to the guys individually and see how they fit in… But I think we've done a great job of balancing that part of it.”

This led Heyward to praise Fields for his leadership style and provide a nice little anecdotal example to support his statement.

“I want to say one thing with your leadership that I saw the other day,” Heyward said. “We are in the middle of training and it is coming to an end. We're on third down and you're pulling Beanie Bishop aside and you're just explaining to him what you're seeing and how he should try to hide his guard or his blitz attacks a little more. I just thought that was really cool because not everyone can be loud and share with the group. But sometimes it's more individual, like you said, so I think that goes a long way too. Sometimes it happens just as much behind the scenes as it does in front of the cameras and stuff.”

Hayden Walsh, the show's co-host, then asked Heyward if this was something you see a lot. Heyward cited some things Ben Roethlisberger used to do.

“It’s not dictated by a coach,” Heyward said. “It has to be given by a player.”

Coaches can impart a lot of knowledge, but in the end they are not the ones who are not on the field. That's why Fields' individual leadership style that Heyward described is so important. Fields is the one reading the defense and processing all the little bits of information he sees on the field in real time on tape. If he can give certain players these little tips and tricks, they'll be better off for it.

It's definitely a unique situation for Fields, as he was named the backup just days before Wilson suffered a calf injury that sidelined him for a month. The team rallies around him as they continue to win, and he develops in new ways as a player and as a leader of men. It's becoming clearer by the day that the Steelers struck gold when they parted with a future conditional sixth-round pick for this young and talented quarterback.