In a somewhat encouraging sign, QB Russell Wilson was seen at practice today working in a limited capacity. He was in full pads and throwing on air in individual drills, per a video posted by Yardbarker’s Aaron Becker on X. He was working as QB3 behind Justin Fields and Kyle Allen.
Wilson appears to be a little more active than his pre-game workout on Sunday, which was an instant sign that Wilson was not going to be playing against the Atlanta Falcons. In that workout, he was essentially just throwing the ball stationary. He appears to be dropping back a little in the above video.
When Mike Tomlin spoke to the media on Tuesday, he said that Wilson likely wouldn’t be practicing or working out to test his calf until Thursday, so maybe Wilson is pushing to play. It would make sense that he is extra motivated to get on the field this week given the Pittsburgh Steelers will be on the road against the Denver Broncos, who are paying him over $30 million dollars to not play for them this year.
Wilson aggravated his calf injury last Thursday that was initially suffered on July 24, the day before training camp practices began. Six weeks later, some calf tightness in practice ended up preventing him from playing in the season opener. He reportedly told the team that he could play on Sunday, but the Steelers took the cautious approach and held him out.
Tomlin told the media on Tuesday that they are preparing as if Justin Fields is the starter and dodged questions about who would start when Wilson was healthy. He explained that Wilson being healthy is a large assumption and they will let practice participation and quality guide those decisions.
This has left many anticipating the quarterback battle heating back up after Fields delivered the Steelers a victory in Week 1 against the Falcons. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported this morning that Wilson would be the starter when healthy, so now it is just a matter of waiting to see when that might be.
