Gerry Dulac posted an article earlier this morning stating that Justin Fields is not only expected to start against the Denver Broncos in Week 2, but also the following week against the Los Angeles Chargers. Is that setting the Pittsburgh Steelers up for a QB controversy later in the season?
It is an unwritten rule in football that starters don’t lose their jobs due to injury. That obviously wasn’t the case for the 2023 Steelers. When Kenny Pickett went down with an ankle injury, he did not get his job back once he was healthy. Mason Rudolph had one of the best QB performances of the season for the Steelers and Mike Tomlin decided to ride the hot hand, parlaying it into a three-game winning streak to qualify for the playoffs.
Patrick Peterson, who spent the 2023 season with the Steelers and would have insider knowledge into how things work in that locker room, thinks a similar thing could play out this year between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.
“I’m telling you, if a young fella go 3-0, mark my words, he will be the starter,” Peterson said in a clip of 93.7 The Fan’s 1st and Pod with Andrew Fillipponi on X.
Russell Wilson hurt his calf the day before training camp began, and slowly worked his way back into practice for the better part of three weeks. He finally seemed to be good to go by the second preseason game. It appeared that he was on track to be the Week 1 starter. Tomlin even named him the starter a week before he aggravated the injury.
Fields, of course, got the Steelers their first win against the Atlanta Falcons. The game plan on offense was very conservative, but Fields played mostly mistake-free football and did enough with his legs and the occasional deep pass to win.
With Fields reportedly set to start the next two games, does he have a legitimate shot to become the true QB1 over Wilson? That obviously is dependent on him continuing to play mistake-free football and the Steelers winning each of their next two games.
Mike Tomlin was asked pretty directly during his Tuesday press conference who will be the starter once Wilson is healthy. He dodged the question and said it is a pretty big assumption that Wilson is healthy. He didn’t say yes or no, which leaves the door open for Fields to win the job with two more solid weeks of play.
