When it comes to the starting quarterback discussion for the Pittsburgh Steelers, head coach Mike Tomlin hasn’t engaged time and time again, stating that it is irrelevant with Russell Wilson not healthy.
Turns out, Wilson was cleared two weeks ago by the Steelers’ medical team, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac. Despite that reported clearance, the Steelers stuck with Justin Fields as their starting quarterback, being cautious with Wilson and his calf injury.
“Wilson was medically cleared to return two weeks ago, but the Steelers have remained overly cautious because he was symptom-free when the injury flared up against Sept. 5 — three days before the game against the Falcons,” Dulac reported for the Post-Gazette Monday afternoon.
Based on Dulac’s reporting, that means Wilson was cleared either right before the Week 3 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, or right after the Steelers’ win over the Chargers. Since being medically cleared, the Steelers have remained very cautious with Wilson from a workload standpoint, continuing to limit him in practice the last two weeks, though they did ramp him up a bit this week.
Around the time that Wilson was reportedly medically cleared, the Steelers were 3-0 and playing well. But now, after two tough losses to the Indianapolis Colts and the Dallas Cowboys in back-to-back weeks, the Steelers sit at 3-2 and might need a bit of a spark offensively.
That spark could come in the form of Wilson. He is reportedly close to full health and stated to the Sunday Night Football crew that he feels he should be ready to go for Week 6 against the Las Vegas Raiders on the road, and if not Week 6, then Week 7 against the New York Jets at Acrisure Stadium.
Previously, Wilson was named the starting quarterback in late August by Tomlin and was voted a team captain offensively. But on the Thursday before the season opener on the road against the Atlanta Falcons, Wilson tweaked his calf, aggravating an injury he suffered in the conditioning test before training camp, sidelining him in the process.
That opened the door for Fields, who has played well but struggled Sunday night against the Cowboys. Now with Wilson healthy and having reportedly being medically cleared two weeks ago, it certainly feels like the Steelers are getting close to making a change under center and putting Wilson into the lineup.
Tomlin speaks to the media on Tuesday at noon. There, he’ll undoubtedly talk about the quarterback situation. It will be very interesting to see if he announces Wilson is returning to the lineup after the injury, or if it’s Fields for at least another week.
