The Pittsburgh Steelers were cautious with Russell Wilson in Week 1, not playing him with a calf injury. However, they might be forced to throw caution to the wind this week. Although Justin Fields played well, Wilson will almost certainly want a chance to beat his old team, the Denver Broncos. Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger seems to believe that Wilson will do anything to play this week.
On a recent episode of his podcast, Footbahlin’ with Ben Roethlisberger, the former Steelers quarterback spoke about his idea of what Wilson is thinking.
“Russ [Wilson] is gonna do everything he can to get out there,” Roethlisberger said. “Russ might cut off his leg and put a different leg on there just to get out there. It’s gonna be interesting. He wants to get on that field so bad. He wants to go to Denver. He wants to probably get booed.”
Wilson played for the Broncos in 2022 and 2023, struggling in his first season but improving last year. That didn’t stop the Broncos from benching him and then cutting him. Wilson was reportedly benched due to issues with his contract, not because of his health or level of play. That kind of treatment had to fire up a competitor like Wilson.
The issue is going to be how comfortable the Steelers feel with Wilson’s health. They have no commitment to him beyond this season, but they obviously like him enough to not want to lose him for a longer period of time due to injury. Fields played well enough that the Steelers will probably feel like they can win with him again, but it just might mean more to Wilson.
Roethlisberger also knows what it’s like to play against a team you have a vendetta against. He grew up a fan of the Cleveland Browns, and they could have drafted him, but they went in a different direction. That left Roethlisberger feeling spurned, and he beat the tar out of the Browns for the rest of his career as a result.
Wilson’s status for the Broncos game will probably not be revealed until later this week. It’s likely to go down to the wire again, much like during Week 1. Wilson might not accept that he can’t start until kickoff. It’s not going to be an easy decision for the Steelers, but whatever they decide to do, hopefully, they win.
