It hasn’t been the worst-case scenario for Russell Wilson, but pretty darn close to it for his start to the 2024 season. He suffered a calf injury the day before practice started at training camp, and then aggravated it just days before the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Week 1 game against the Atlanta Falcons. Now the Steelers are 3-1, and he has watched Justin Fields state a strong case to retain what was supposed to be Wilson’s job.
Wilson is getting very close to full health, so the intrigue around QB1 will now be brought further into the spotlight. Mike Tomlin showed the first signs of breaking from his ongoing ambiguity about the situation, saying that there is potential for Fields to be the hot hand and start regardless of Wilson’s health. Week 5 against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football could very well be his final casting call for the audition to be the permanent starter.
Wilson gave an update on his health after practice on Thursday.
“I feel like I’m right there. I got an extra day tomorrow. I still got Saturday and everything else, so that’s my mindset to get ready for Sunday,” Wilson said in a video posted by Mark Kaboly on X. “I had a real good practice today, our team did, and felt really confident today.”
While he may be feeling back to 100-percent healthy, there are always concerns about soft-tissue injuries. Over 40 days passed between the initial injury to the aggravation. We are beyond that window the second time around, but can the Steelers be completely certain that it won’t happen again? Mike Tomlin told the media on Tuesday that Wilson would be working with more of a live pocket as he gets close to being fully cleared, but there is something about a real game with a real threat of being sacked that cannot be simulated in practice.
The injury report hasn’t been released yet for Thursday, but it sounds like there is a chance for Wilson to have his first full practice in five weeks.
“We’re definitely ramping it up,” Wilson said in a video posted by TribLive’s Chris Adamski on X. “It’s been good, I feel great, and just getting better every day.”
He then went on to say that he was hopping into the team sessions in 11-on-11 as well as the 7-on-7 work. Usually that is a pretty good sign for a full practice.
If Wilson is good to go, he will likely be the primary backup Sunday night instead of the emergency third quarterback as he has been all season so far. That means he would be a few bad Justin Fields errors away from entering the game. It also puts pressure on Fields to execute and come out with a win or else there could be a different tune coming from Tomlin during his press conference next Tuesday.
