Things have taken quite an interesting turn for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the last 24 hours. Veteran quarterback Russell Wilson was limited with a calf injury on Thursday, just a few days ahead of kickoff against the Atlanta Falcons on the road to open the 2024 season.
Wilson hurt his calf initially on the day before the start of training camp while pushing a weighted sled in the conditioning test. That caused him to miss a handful of practices early in training camp and then kept him relatively limited in practices until the Steelers camp broke in mid-August.
Wilson played in the final two preseason games and told reporters he was “ahead of schedule” in his recovery and was feeling great.
But on Thursday, something happened with the calf, leading to the Steelers listing him as limited on their injury report. Now, that could lead to backup quarterback Justin Fields getting the start Sunday in Atlanta, which would really throw a wrench into things.
For the Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo, who appeared on the 93.7 The Fan Joe Show with Joe Starkey, Fields brings a major boom-or-bust prospect to the table should he be the starter Sunday.
“I was watching the Ravens-Chiefs game last night and the [Chiefs] have [Lamar Jackson] defended perfectly and he rolls out of the pocket, they lose contain and he flips a pass to Isaiah Likely for like a 40-yard touchdown and those are the types of plays that Justin Fields is gonna make,” Fittipaldo said, according to audio via 93.7 The Fan. “Justin Fields is gonna…he could run for over a hundred yards like Lamar Jackson did last night. But yeah, there’s also a lot more risk, I think, when you would start Justin Fields. Probably not as careful with the football, probably doesn’t read the field as well as Russell Wilson does at this point in his career. So, I’ve been saying all along, Joe, I think the Steelers would be fine if Russell Wilson couldn’t play for whatever reason. I think Justin Fields is a good backup quarterback, but I, I do think you’re right. I think there is a, a boom-or-bust factor there.
“They can go out there and run for a hundred yards and throw three touchdowns or it can go out there and throw four picks. I think there’s not a lot of gray area in between there if you had to start a guy like Justin.”
Seeing what Lamar Jackson did Thursday night against the Chiefs, there’s a world there in which that could be what Justin Fields is for the Steelers in 2024. He is a solid passer who can make the necessary throws with the occasional misses. He is also a designed-run monster who can add an entirely different element to the offense that is incredibly hard for defenses to stop on a consistent basis.
Fields has been rather dynamic in his career with the football in his hands. He has elite-level physical traits, throws a good deep ball and can really rip defenses to shreds as a runner. But for some of the boom he had in his career in three seasons in Chicago, there was a lot of bust, too.
There is plenty of excitement and anticipation regarding Fields. If he ultimately gets the start Sunday in Atlanta, it’s like that he’s either going to have a good game and put up eye-opening stats, or he’s going to struggle in his first game under Arthur Smith. As Fittipaldo said, there’s not much gray area in between there.
That’s how it’s been much of his career, and it seems unreasonable to expect that to all of a sudden change in what could be a rushed first start with the Steelers.
