Russell Wilson was named the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback ahead of Week 1, but after aggravating a calf injury in practice prior to the team’s first game, Justin Fields has been Pittsburgh’s starter for the first two weeks. Fields is slated to start Week 3, but Mike Tomlin said his position on Wilson being on top of the depth chart has not changed.
“Again, I’ve stated where we are at the beginning of Week 1. I said it was debatable and so we were staying status quo, and Russ was in poll position. My position regarding the pecking order and the depth chart has not changed, guys, and it won’t until the other guy gets healthy. And then we’ll give it real consideration. Until then, I won’t speculate. I don’t know how many ways I can tell you guys that,” Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel.
Wilson is still listed as QB1 on Pittsburgh’s latest depth chart, which was released this morning. It doesn’t sound like anything will change until the Steelers see how Wilson looks after he returns to full health. Through two weeks, Fields has done his job, leading the Steelers to back-to-back road wins to open the season, but Wilson could take over the starting job once he returns to full health.
Fields and Wilson offer upside in different ways. Fields is more mobile and able to create plays with his legs while Wilson has more accuracy and a better deep ball. But Fields has made some impressive throws downfield, even though his 51-yard completion to WR George Pickens Sunday in Denver got wiped off the board due to a holding penalty.
It’s going to be an interesting and difficult decision for Tomlin, especially if Fields can help the Steelers beat the Los Angeles Chargers this week. It does no good to publicly state one way or another that Wilson will be the starter, and Tomlin is keeping Fields ready to go by letting him focus week to week and not worry about the future.
“So it is a waste of my time to speculate and hypotheticals and all of that,” he said. “Justin’s got a game to get ready for this week. And so I’m not doing him any justice by talking hypothetical. I want him focused. I’m focused on the next task and, and until Russell gets to a state of readiness where he’s a consideration, I won’t be speculating on any of that in any way.”
For now, Fields will focus on playing the best he can and try to gain further consideration for the starting job, but it’s not going to be something to worry about for him until Wilson gets healthy, whenever that may be. It might wind up being a more difficult decision than Tomlin anticipated due to Fields’ play so far, but a decision is looming in the coming weeks. At some point, Tomlin will need to address it, even though he’s smart not to do it right now.
