Considering he is still recovering from a calf injury suffered in the conditioning test before the start of training camp when pushing a weighted sled and the fact that he just recently returned to practice in an elevated capacity, it’s not a surprise that veteran QB Russell Wilson won’t play in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason opener Friday against the Houston Texans at Acrisure Stadium.
That doesn’t mean he’s happy to be on the sidelines in street clothes, though.
Speaking with reporters after practice Wednesday at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Wilson said that he always wants to play, but he is excited to get a chance to take in the stadium and the home crowd for the Steelers after head coach Mike Tomlin announced he wouldn’t play Wednesday during a morning press conference with reporters.
“Yeah, always. I always wanna play. I mean, I think anytime you get to strap on the pads, it’s a blessing,” Wilson said to reporters, according to video via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski on Twitter. “If it’s preseason, regular season is obviously a lot, and postseason, so just to be out with your teammates and everything else. But the good thing is that I get to take everything in and learn. Just be in that stadium for the first time.
“I can’t wait. It’s gonna be amazing being in the stadium.”
Technically, it is not Wilson’s first time in Acrisure Stadium as he played there in 2019 in Week 2, which happened to be the game in which Ben Roethlisberger suffered his elbow injury. Wilson was also with the Seahawks in the 2021 matchup at then-Heinz Field, though he was injured for that matchup.
Of course, that’s the game where Wilson went viral for running through a full drive on air pre-game that NBC’s cameras caught.
Though he’s not going to play Friday night, getting the chance to just be on the sidelines, presumably with a headset or earpiece on, to hear the play calls and really immerse himself into the gameday operations will be good for Wilson. It’s not the same as physical reps, but Wilson is a big mental reps guy, so he’ll get plenty of those.
It’s unclear when—or if—he’ll see action in the preseason. Though he has been back practicing more extensively in recent days, the Steelers are still cautious. Just last week, Tomlin stated that he was intentionally slowing Wilson’s progress in his return to be cautious and not overdo it.
“I’m prepared to play. I know that,” Wilson added, according to video via the Post-Gazette on YouTube. “So it’s whatever coach decides. Obviously he’s the boss, man. He gets to make the decisions on that, but I’ll be ready to go.”
Maybe that extends through the rest of the preseason. Or maybe they’re just taking it slow for another week. But one thing is certain: Wilson won’t play Friday, giving Justin Fields another opportunity to showcase himself in what is very much becoming a QB competition.
