In the days leading up to the Week 2 matchup on the road against the Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin left the light on for veteran quarterback Russell Wilson to try and get back on the field for the potential revenge game.
So much so, in fact, that according to NFL on FOX insider Jay Glazer, Tomlin wanted to start Wilson to give him that opportunity to get back at the Broncos.
Unfortunately, Wilson’s calf injury didn’t heal in time, leading to the Steelers rolling with Justin Fields as the starting quarterback in a 13-6 win on the road in Week 2.
Appearing on the Dan Le Batard Show Monday afternoon, Glazer reported that Tomlin, whom he shares a close relationship with, wanted to start Wilson to give the veteran a chance to get back at the Broncos, who cast him aside this offseason.
“Russell has a calf injury, which at first I was kinda looking at like, ‘does he really have one? Or does he just not wanna get beat out by Justin?’ But no, he actually has a real calf injury. MRI showed that there was a calf injury in there. But hey, I tell you what though, as Justin Fields gets more and more comfortable with this offense with Arthur Smith, it’s gonna be hard to pull back,” Glazer said of the Steelers’ quarterback situation. “And I do know, here’s the thing: I know Mike Tomlin wanted to go with Russell against the Broncos because, in Mike’s mindset, he is like, ‘as a man, you’re gonna want to get back at the team that discarded you’ right?
“So he just knew…he’s gonna have to wanna do that, but the calf just wasn’t healthy enough for him to do it.”
Coming off of the win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 with Fields at the helm just a few days after Wilson’s calf injury popped up late in the week of preparation, Tomlin stated to reporters that the Steelers were preparing as if Fields would be the starting quarterback in Week 2 and that they’d wait and see what Wilson’s participation would be like during the week.
At the time of the injury, Wilson downplayed it just like he did in training camp and stated that he was doing everything he could to get it right. There was also a sense of urgency from Wilson entering Week 2 due to the matchup with the Broncos.
As is well known, the Broncos cut ties with Wilson just two years after orchestrating a massive trade with the Seattle Seahawks to acquire him. They gave up multiple players and first-round picks and made Wilson the then-highest-paid quarterback in the league.
Over two years, it didn’t work out with Wilson, leading to second-year Broncos head coach Sean Payton moving on this offseason. The Broncos cut ties with Wilson and took on an $85+ million dead cap hit over the next two years.
That, in turn, gave Wilson an opportunity to pick his next destination, which ultimately ended up being Pittsburgh. Then, the calf injury struck during the conditioning test the night before the start of training camp while pushing a sled, throwing things for a loop.
Wilson was eventually named the starter after playing in the final two preseason games. Still, the calf injury happened again on the Thursday before the season opener, giving Justin Fields an opportunity he’s seemingly grabbed ahold of and run with.
Though Fields is 3-0 as a starter, it’s interesting to hear that Mike Tomlin wanted to go back to Wilson for Week 2 to give the veteran a chance to get back at his old team. Wilson received a “petty game ball” after the win, which undoubtedly felt sweet, but he would have felt that much better if he was the quarterback for it.
Check out the full interview with Glazer below.
