When the Pittsburgh Steelers arrived at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA, for training camp, everyone was ready to watch the quarterbacks. Unfortunately, the Steelers and fans alike were robbed of that opportunity at the start. QB Russell Wilson’s calf injury allowed Justin Fields plenty of reps with the starting offense, and he impressed.
However, once Wilson got back to full capacity, he did as well. Steeler Depot’s Alex Kozora recapped Monday’s practice, saying, “It felt like a real duel.” That performance continued over the following two practices. Wilson appears to have proven why the Steelers pursued him in just a short period of full practice.
“I think you saw yesterday what he’s capable of,” Steelers Assistant General Manager Andy Weidl said Thursday afternoon per video from the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “He’s still got a live arm. He can hit every part of the field. He throws a majestic deep ball, accurate.”
Russell Wilson’s ability to throw the deep ball accurately will be important in offense coordinator Arthur Smith’s scheme. He wants to push the ball down the field using play-action. If Wilson’s arm at 35 years old can still attack defenses deep with accuracy, that’s great news for the Steelers.
It is impressive that Russell Wilson missed a lot of time during training camp and still showed up this week. This speaks to Wilson’s mental approach to practice.
And it’s who Wilson is as a person that’s also sticking out to Weidl.
“I knew him from being in the NFC and never beat him, knocked us out of the playoffs in 2019,” Weidl said. “But I think he’s just a personable guy. He’s a football lover. His preparation, he takes care of his body. Just being around him, really impressive guy. Always respected the player, obviously. And just get to know the person, it’s been great to get to know him.”
There have been plenty of people who have accused Russell Wilson of being fake or anything but genuine. But that’s not what Weidl has experienced being around Wilson. Evidently, Wilson has impressed the Steelers both as a football player and as a person.
Does that mean Wilson is the guaranteed starter come Week 1? No. Fields has certainly shown a lot of growth with the extended opportunity this training camp. But Wilson proved these last few practices what he’s capable of when throwing the ball.
If Wilson can carry that over through the rest of the preseason, he will likely be leading the Steelers onto the field in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons.
