With it seeming likely that Russell Wilson will make his first start for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football this week, it is fair to wonder how much rust he might have from rehabbing his calf injury for almost six weeks. Especially considering the fact that he missed most of training camp as well.
Mike Tomlin described his level of comfort with Wilson and his ability to shake off the rust during his weekly press conference.
“You knock it off to a degree just getting an in-helmet perspective on the work. There’s one thing to sit in meetings and digest football and be a full participant like he’s been, or to be a guy behind the offensive group, digesting it from that perspective. But the in-helmet perspective and the reactionary see-to-do and some of those things, that’s what I’m talking about.,” Tomlin said Tuesday via the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “But there’s also a totality of his resume as well that makes you more comfortable than guys with shorter resumes in that regard, in terms of his ability to play ball on a limited amount of exposure.”
Tomlin has often talked about the difficulty of hopping back onto a moving train for players who miss significant time during the team-building process throughout training camp and the preseason. You can see just how difficult that is for a guy like Roman Wilson, who just played his first five snaps in Week 6 after getting injured on the first day of padded practice at training camp.
For veterans, that curve is not as steep. Russell Wilson was medically cleared and allowed to resume full practices just a week ago. Tomlin said at the time that it was more about knocking off the rust rather than proving his health. One week later, Tomlin is saying Wilson is in consideration to start with NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero reporting he will be getting first-team reps at practice.
There is also a level of pressure that is mitigated by the fact that Justin Fields, who has led the Steelers to a 4-2 start, is still very much available to the team. If Wilson tweaks his calf again, or proves to still have too much rust, they can still utilize Fields in packages to help share the burden.
Tomlin didn’t give a definitive answer on who is starting, but it sure seems like he believes Wilson’s experience will help him power through the rust and elevate the offense.
