I get the anxiety that can come with the headline of “Russell Wilson misses the Pittsburgh Steelers first four practices.” Proven and veteran as he is, Wilson is still new to the team in an offense that has been completely revamped. Reps are reps and they’re all valuable. Still, Mike Tomlin has taken the right approach. Being conservative is prudent, ensuring Wilson’s small injury doesn’t become a big one.
Make no mistake. It’s a minor ailment. Wilson has ramped up his activity during each practice to the point where he had basically graduated to “limited” during Sunday’s practice. Though he never strapped on a helmet and didn’t participate in the drills that required more mobility, boots and rollouts, he threw several practices during the period and looked no worse for wear. If you observed Wilson during practice over the four days and weren’t told about the injury, you wouldn’t have guessed he was injured to any degree.
So why hold him out? Ask the Cincinnati Bengals how pushing a quarterback through a calf injury turned out. In 2023, Joe Burrow suffered a calf strain on July 27. His injury seemed more severe and the Bengals did give him time off but arguably rushed him back too soon to begin the regular season. Burrow was a shell of himself and seemed to aggravate the injury, hindering his play and the Bengals’ offense for the first month of the season. It wasn’t until mid-way through the year that Burrow got past the injury that Cincinnati started rolling, at least until a torn wrist ligament ended his season.
As great as it would’ve been to get Wilson on the field for the start of camp, it wasn’t worth the risk. He worked with the team throughout OTAs and minicamp and had separate several offseason workouts, including one in San Diego shortly before camp with all the quarterbacks and a half-dozen receivers.
The first four days of camp still had an OTA feel, without pads and less intense. This week, the pads come on and the stakes raise. That’s when you want Wilson out there, and he should be. Tomlin’s already confirmed Russell Wilson will work in team period throughout the week. Perhaps he won’t take every single rep he normally would, but he’ll be back in action. The Steelers will be better off for their cautiousness.
