While the Pittsburgh Steelers lost their first game of the season on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, it was a solid performance from QB Justin Fields, who threw for 312 yards and added another 55 on the ground with three total touchdowns. ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter said on SportsCenter this afternoon that this might be the week where Mike Tomlin has to make a decision on whether to start Fields or Russell Wilson as the latter is expected to be healthy this week and able to play against Dallas.
“This is a week, a Sunday Night game against the Dallas Cowboys, in which Russell Wilson finally was expected to be over that calf injury and expected to play. So if Russell Wilson is not playing on Sunday night, that would tell you that Justin Fields for the time being has wrestled away the starting quarterback job from Russell Wilson,” Schefter said.
Schefter added that a lot of people around the league “believe it will be tough” to bench Fields.
“He has certainly risen to the occasion, and we’ll see if Mike Tomlin decides to keep riding [Fields]. Hard to imagine he’s gonna sit down a guy who has gotten better, who has a 3-1 record through the first quarter of the season, who has played well, who does have the support of his team right now,” Schefter said. “He’s going to have Russell Wilson as an option at some point in time, but I think it would be a surprise if Justin Fields isn’t starting Sunday night.”
So far, the Steelers haven’t been forced to make a decision about who their starter is after initially naming Wilson QB1 heading into the season. Wilson tweaked his calf in practice ahead of Week 1 and has missed the first four games, in which Fields has played well and gotten more comfortable each week in the offense. In Week 4, we did see him take a bad sack that led to a fumble, which was something he struggled with during his time with the Chicago Bears, but he’s thrown the ball well and used his legs.
It wouldn’t make much sense to turn to Wilson after how Fields has looked starting this season. After serving as the emergency third quarterback for the first four games, this might be the week Fields moves past Wilson on the depth chart and Wilson serves as the QB2. Even if he doesn’t, the way Schefter makes it sound is that Wilson will be healthy for this game, so if Fields starts, it’s a sign that he’s the starter even if Mike Tomlin doesn’t outright say it.
If Fields does struggle, the team can always turn to Wilson. But Fields has played good football and the Steelers are 3-1, and he’s earned the right to keep things going as the QB1. We’ll find out if that’s the case on Sunday, but maybe as soon as Tuesday during Mike Tomlin’s weekly press conference.
