Russell Wilson should be given a chance to earn his spot back, right?
The quarterback competition seems all but dead at this point, and the culprit for the battle’s end is none other than a… calf injury?
Yes, you read that correctly. Although Mike Tomlin has been adamant in seasons past about starting players not losing their spots due to injury, it seems almost as if that is exactly what happened.
Justin Fields may have overtaken the job at some point during the 2024 campaign, but Russell Wilson‘s only attempt to compete was in a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, in which the offensive line let him get absolutely crushed.
If that is why Tomlin is hesitant to name a starter moving forward, good on him for creating an equal playing field. But that also begs the question: how can anyone bench Justin Fields when his performance was MVP-esque through two consecutive weeks of football?
There’s a simple answer—you can’t. And now everyone can understand why Tomlin and the Steelers are between a rock and a hard place, or in this circumstance, a Russ and a Fields.
Russell Wilson takes huge step in return from calf injury
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson is getting close to a return from his nagging calf injury. On Thursday, Wilson addressed the media, and confirmed that he is working in team drills for the first time since aggravating his calf injury. While he is still listed as a limited participant on the injury report, Wilson says the team is consciously now ramping him up.
“We’re definitely ramping it up,” Wilson said. “It’s been good. I feel great and I’m just getting better every day. … Definitely been able to hop into the team drills and get more plays and be able to do that. That’s been great this week. Doing all the team. 11 on 11, 7 on 7, all that stuff, too. It’s been good.”
Wilson has yet to do running or rollouts, which is the final step in his return. The former Seahawks and Broncos star quarterback is listed as the QB1 on the Steelers’ depth chart, but Justin Fields will start on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. The Steelers are trying to figure out if Wilson will be the emergency third quarterback or the true backup this week.
“The first thing is making sure I’m physically ready to go,” he said. “Every day I’ve been ready to go in some form or fashion, just in case of emergency. That’s just kind of been my mentality, just in case something happens, to be ready and help us win.”
Wilson is taking it day by day, but his return appears imminent. This week is the ramp-up week until he is fully cleared before the Steelers’ Week 6 game against the Las Vegas Raiders. At that point. head coach Mike Tomlin will have to make a decision as to who the starting quarterback will be moving forward.
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