Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that Russell Wilson is not scheduled to participate fully in practice in the early portions of the week and that the team is preparing for Justin Fields to start.
“Still very much in the same place as we were with Russ in the beginning of the week as we were last week, at least in the beginning of the week,” Tomlin said Tuesday during his weekly press conference via the team’s YouTube channel.
He said Wilson is scheduled to be a limited participant in practice on Wednesday, and he doesn’t anticipate him practicing in full, so he wants Fields to be “singularly focused” to be QB1 again.
Tomlin said the plan could change if Wilson’s quality and quantity of participation pick up throughout the week, but it’s “very similar” to the last two weeks, which would point toward Fields starting.
He added that there’s no need for him to make a declaration on the starting quarterback and that the decision will be made once Wilson approaches an “appropriate level of health.”
Fields has led the Steelers to a 3-0 record and has played better and better each week. With Wilson not fully healthy, the Steelers aren’t going to make a decision they don’t need to make. For now, Fields can continue to start while Wilson recovers, and when Wilson gets to a point where the team is comfortable with him playing and being healthy enough to make an impact, then Tomlin will make his decision.
It’s going to be hard to turn back to Wilson if Fields maintain the level of play he has had so far, and a decision could be coming in the next few weeks. Gerry Dulac said yesterday that he thinks Week 5 is when Tomlin will need to make that decision, and that tracks with Wilson still not being healthy enough to practice fully this week.
Fields has played well enough through three weeks that he shouldn’t need to be looking over his shoulder after each game, but with the decision still looming, Sunday is once again a big game for him to prove to Tomlin and the coaching staff that he should earn the starting job. If he struggles, then it makes it easier for the team to turn back to Wilson despite what Fields has done to open the season.
But it sounds as if Fields will get that chance on Sunday unless Wilson winds up feeling a lot better and is able to practice fully later this week although that seems unlikely given Tomlin’s comments.
