Following the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 20-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, NFL insider Mike Florio of NBC Sports/Pro Football Talk reported that Russell Wilson will be the starting quarterback for the Steelers once Wilson’s nagging calf injury is fully healed.
In an article that was released on Wednesday, ESPN’s Dan Graziano explained why he thinks differently than Florio.
Graziano mentioned, “I was in Pittsburgh for Sunday’s game against Dallas, and from the conversations I had, I didn’t get the impression that Justin Fields was in trouble or that the coaching staff was eager to switch to Wilson. Fields brings a strong running ability, and everyone I spoke to—both coaches and players—had only positive things to say about him.”
Wilson had been expected to start for Pittsburgh in Week 1 until he re-aggravated a calf ailment he had sustained early in training camp. Fields led the Steelers to a 3-0 record while taking Wilson’s spot, but the 25-year-old has since lost back-to-back games and has, on the whole, played more of a game-manager role this season rather than a game-changing quarterback.
ESPN statistics show that the Steelers finished Week 5 ranked 23rd in the NFL in offensive yards per game and 26th in scoring (18.4 points per game). Fields, meanwhile, has a 48.0 adjusted QBR on the season, good for 23rd place in the league according to Pro Football Reference.
Wilson is expected to recover enough to be Fields’ backup for Sunday’s game against the 2-3 Las Vegas Raiders, Graziano continued, but “it doesn’t sound as if a change is happening this week”. DraftKings Sportsbook had the Steelers as three-point favorites over Las Vegas as of Wednesday morning.
Fields could struggle in an eventual loss at Allegiant Stadium, thus Tomlin might turn to Wilson for the Week 7 “Sunday Night Football” game against the New York Jets, who will be led by Jeff Ulbrich in an interim role after Robert Saleh was fired.
Russell Wilson of the Steelers: Is He Ready to Play Again?
Russell Wilson, the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, will take part in a full practice this week for the first time since he exacerbated a calf injury he sustained during training camp on September 4. The announcement was made on Tuesday. Wilson hasn’t played in a game this season while rehabbing, despite being tabbed the starter prior to the Week 1 showdown against the Atlanta Falcons.
This week, the Steelers are getting ready to travel to Las Vegas to play the Raiders on Sunday. Wilson, will you be free? They’re being cautious when Wilson returns, according to coach Mike Tomlin.
Tomlin said, “Until Russ reaches a point where we’re confident in his performance, where he can execute the entire scheme and put together consecutive strong days, discussing a switch is hypothetical. We’re going to stick with Justin [Fields] until those things become a reality, then we’ll make decisions as needed.”
In Wilson’s absence, backup Justin Fields led the team to a 3-0 start, but the offense has since struggled. The team has now lost two games in a row, and Fields’ effectiveness in leading the offense may be dwindling.
“I think the fact that he’s a full participant is a door that’s ajar,” remarked Tomlin. “But he needs to get through the day, so to say more than that would be speculating. Like in all cases, he needs to show up on Thursday and we’ll see where the roads lead from there. Although I acknowledge that I tend to view things broadly, this is actually how we do business.”