Pittsburgh Steelers beat writers supplied head coach Mike Tomlin with ample opportunity to name Russell Wilson the starting quarterback. He turned down every opportunity, declaring that Justin Fields has his attention because he is healthy. While his responses raised some eyebrows, they don’t amount to much, says Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“It’s just Mike being Mike”, the veteran beat writer said of Tomlin’s noncommittal response about Wilson. “I wouldn’t read too much into it. Having said that, I know all the national shows will run with that answer”.
I’m sure Fittipaldo is quite right about the national shows and how they will tackle Mike Tomlin’s comments about Russell Wilson. The obvious narrative they will try to build is that Tomlin is segueing into Justin Fields as his starter.
Maybe it comes to that, but in no way are they there now. Fields played a decent game in the opener, but did he look like a Super Bowl champion? He has had control of the offense for the past couple months, yet they didn’t find the end zone. What was so flashy and spectacular to say he is now starting and Russell Wilson is on the bench?
That’s not to say that Wilson will be so much better, or even any better at all. But there is no reason to believe Tomlin saw enough from Fields from training camp on, culminating in Sunday’s game, to decide that they won’t even start Wilson a single game even if he is healthy this week.
I agree with Fittipaldo in that this very much sounds like “Mike being Mike”. They sound like what he says when a player holds in during training camp. When asked if Wilson will start if healthy, he said, “That’s a big if. I’m not into the hypothetical”.
And Tomlin has shown time and time again over the past two decades that he is very much not into the hypotheticals when they come in the form of a question from a beat writer. If you ask him a question that includes the word “if”, you’re probably not getting a good answer.
“I’m not going to soothe you with hypothetical scenarios”, Tomlin shot back, when reporters took a different tack trying to get him to commit to starting Russell Wilson when healthy. “You guys that know me know I do not, so why start today because it’s the quarterback position or because it’s a national story? I am unmoved by some of those narratives”.
So, yes, technically speaking, Tomlin refused to commit to Wilson starting when he is healthy. But he did not do so in any compelling way that signals he is losing his starting job. Now, he absolutely left himself plenty of wiggle room when the time comes to make a decision. If Fields looks like the better option once Wilson is healthy, Tomlin may very well start him. Anything he has to say after Week 1, though, should be in one ear and out the other.
