For Pittsburgh Steelers QB Russell Wilson, there won’t be a homecoming against the Denver Broncos. Wilson has officially been ruled out of Sunday’s Week 2 game against the Broncos. QB Justin Fields will receive his second start in as many weeks, per Adam Schefter on X. He is listed as the emergency third quarterback, as he was last week. That means he will be in full gear on the sideline once again.
Veteran QB Kyle Allen will be the Steelers’ No. 2 quarterback.
Wilson entered the week questionable but with the expectation that he wouldn’t start. He aggravated a calf injury the Thursday before the Steelers’ Week 1 game against Atlanta, inactive as the team’s emergency third quarterback. Wilson was limited throughout this week’s work of practice with Tomlin preparing Fields to start and play wire to wire. That puts Fields in a more prepared state compared to a week ago and will hopefully open up the Steelers’ playbook and offense.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Tomlin indicated that Wilson was highly questionable to start and the expectation from the media has been Fields getting the nod. Wilson spoke to reporters Friday and said he was getting closer to full health but at 35 years old with a soft-issue injury, the Steelers are being cautious.
Fields got the win over the Falcons, completing 17-of-23 passes for 156 yards, no touchdowns, and no interceptions. He also rushed 14 times for 57 yards, his attempts a career-high by a Steelers quarterback since the 1970 merger. Fields will look for another winning performance against a tough Broncos defense that limited Seattle Seahawks’ QB Geno Smith to 171 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception in Week 1.
When the NFL released the schedule in May, Steelers-Broncos was circled as a revenge game for Wilson. He spent the past two seasons with the team before being cut in March. Denver is paying most of his nearly-$40 million contract and ate over $80 million in dead money. Now, Wilson will watch this game from the sidelines.
Pittsburgh and Denver kick off at 4:25 PM/EST.
