Russell Wilson first injured his calf on July 24, the day before training camp began. After multiple weeks of the Pittsburgh Steelers easing him back into practice, Wilson seemed good to go by the second preseason game in which he played five drives. But just three days before the regular-season opener, Wilson experienced tightness in his calf that ended up holding him out of the game.
That was 43 days between the initial injury and the aggravation of it, and that included a good amount of time that the Steelers held him out of practice. He had ample time and rest to recover, and it still flared up as an issue six weeks later.
Ray Fittipaldo was asked on 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Show if Wilson will be the starter when he is healthy.
“Yes, but guys, I don’t know when Russell Wilson is gonna be healthy enough for Mike Tomlin to feel like he could put him out there,” Fittipaldo said Wednesday. “We’re over six weeks now since this injury happened and it just seems like, if it’s not good enough now after six weeks, it’s just gonna be something that lingers all season.”
Wilson told the media shortly after the initial injury that it was a very minor concern and that he would have been practicing if the team would let him. He said he certainly would have been playing in a game if it was the regular season. Obviously that isn’t what happened, though he reportedly told the team he could play in Atlanta.
Then during Tuesday’s press conference, Tomlin said they are preparing as if Justin Fields is the starter. He left the door cracked open for Wilson but was very noncommittal on his status. He will start going through some drills on Thursday before they meet with team doctors to determine next steps.
Wilson told the media after the aggravation of his injury that the tests indicated it wasn’t a major concern and that they were fortunate it wasn’t a more serious injury. But if it’s flaring back up 43 days after the initial injury, it begs the question of whether he will ever truly be 100 percent all season.
Another 43 days from the reaggravation, and the Steelers will already be almost halfway through their season. Even then, there is no guarantee this issue doesn’t pop up again. Wilson is 35 years old, and players typically don’t get healthier as they age.
There may come a point where Tomlin and the medical staff have to take a leap of faith and trust Wilson when he tells the team he can play. Otherwise, we could be in this holding pattern for the better part of the season. By that point, depending on how Fields has done in the interim, there would be no guarantee that Wilson would step back in as the starter.
