Passing along a small update this morning. It still isn’t the big announcement of Russell Wilson playing (or not) that we have all been waiting for, but it is another indication that Justin Fields is on track to start.
Ian Rapoport offered the latest via X.
“The Steelers are expected to examine QB Russell Wilson this morning to check out his calf, but as it stands now, it’s more likely Justin Fields starts vs the Falcons than Wilson,” Rapoport wrote, with the assist from his fellow NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo.
After being named the starter just 11 days ago, Wilson experienced tightness in his calf just a few days ago on Thursday. This caused him to have limited practices on Thursday and Friday with an official injury designation of questionable.
Wilson was expected to undergo treatment last night and again this morning before a final pre-game evaluation.
Garafolo will give an on-site update on NFL GameDay Morning via NFL Network at 9:00 a.m. ET, so just a couple of hours now until more information surfaces.
According to Adam Schefter last night, Wilson told the team that he could play. The team doctors were reportedly more cautious and wanted to perform one final examination ahead of today’s game.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor stated on SportsCenter this morning that Wilson’s family traveled to the game as well. He must really be pushing the Steelers to get cleared to play.
The inactive list is released 90 minutes before kickoff, so this could drag on until then for some finality on this situation.
With Fields likely to start, that obviously throws a wrench in the Steelers’ game plan, though Mike Tomlin said there would be no changes during his Thursday media availability.
Fortunately for the Steelers, Fields spent almost the entire training camp with the first-team offense and even started the preseason opener. They are about as prepared as they could be for a late curveball such as this. This would also mean that QB Kyle Allen gets a helmet today, with Wilson likely to be inactive, though I suppose it is possible they could designate Wilson as the emergency third quarterback.
Update – 9:26 a.m.
Garafolo gave the update on NFL Network live in Atlanta, but it was essentially the same thing they said in the tweet.
