With Russell Wilson re-injuring his calf in practice leading up to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 1 matchup with the Denver Broncos, the team turned to QB Justin Fields, and Fields led Pittsburgh to an 18-10 win to open the season. With Week 2 against Wilson’s former team in the Denver Broncos approaching, ESPN’s Adam Schefter believes that Wilson is going to want to play.
“I think when Russell’s healthy, I think he’s gonna come back and get a chance to be the starting guy again. But they played well yesterday, they did exactly what they should’ve. They didn’t score a touchdown, but they played good defense, they ran the ball, and they were opportunistic, and T.J. Watt is a man-wrecker. So now, what’s interesting is they play Denver this week. Russell’s gonna want to be out there,” Schefter said Monday on The Pat McAfee Show.
Fields did his job, not turning the ball over and using his legs well. But he also had some missed passes he should’ve made, and the Steelers could turn back to Wilson if he’s healthy. The question really will be if he is healthy. He felt he was good to go for the game on Sunday, but the medical staff ruled him out.
With Wilson catching a lot of flak from the local and national media after his stint in Denver went awry, he might want to get some revenge on his former team and former head coach in Sean Payton. If Wilson feels he’s healthy enough to play, it’s a game he won’t want to miss, which adds an extra layer for Mike Tomlin when deciding who will play.
Obviously, if the medical staff doesn’t feel that Wilson will be good to go, the Steelers aren’t going to play him and risk further injury or have him play while he’s limited. But if Wilson is cleared to play, going up against Denver will probably mean just a bit more to him than playing the Falcons.
Given that the Broncos released Wilson — and are paying most of his salary this season — after he underperformed during his stint, the history there would make for a matchup rife with storylines. Both teams should have a little chip on their shoulder. Broncos LB Jonas Griffith said he “for sure” wanted to pick off Wilson, and Wilson is going to want to beat his former team and try to show the Broncos that they made a mistake moving on from him.
Tomlin will likely talk more about the quarterback decision tomorrow, but there’s no doubt that Fields made it harder to turn back to Wilson by leading the Steelers to a win, even in a flawed performance. But with the Broncos coming up, Wilson just might make more of a push to enter the starting lineup.
