The Pittsburgh Steelers have dealt with a bit of an early-season curveball at the quarterback position with Russell Wilson unable to play. Justin Fields started in Week 1, and it seems very likely he will once again start in Week 2.
The initial injury was suffered on July 24th, the day before training camp began, during a sled push in the annual conditioning test. Wilson downplayed the injury at the time, and said he would be practicing if it were up to him. He also said he would be playing in a game if it were that point of the season. That obviously did not end up being the case as he suffered a reaggravation on Sept. 5.
According to Jay Glazer on FOX NFL Sunday, Wilson had an MRI and there was a confirmed strain.
“Russell Wilson took an MRI on his quad. It did show that there was a strain,” Glazer said in a clip of the segment posted by Fox Sports NFL on X. “I think Mike Tomlin is gonna say, let’s make sure he is 100-percent healthy before we even put him in the conversation about playing quarterback over Justin Fields.”
Glazer said quad on the broadcast, but everything we have heard so far, including the injury report, indicates a calf. That was likely an error by Glazer.
The Steelers already showed us their approach to this injury during training camp. Despite all parties downplaying the severity of the injury, Wilson sat out for the better part of three weeks. He began practicing in full just before the second preseason game and then played in each of the last two preseason games. With a reaggravation, we can expect at least that much time, if not more before he is deemed fully healthy and ready to go.
During his Friday press conference last week, Wilson said he was disappointed when the injury initially happened because it was a pretty strong injury. They had routinely been referring to it as some “calf tightness.” We now know that it’s a calf strain of some degree, though they did not specify what grade. Tomlin maintained that it was not a long-term concern before the Week 1 game.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers insider Gerry Dulac reported this week that Fields is expected to start both Week 2 and Week 3, so perhaps the estimated return for Wilson is Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts.
