Russell Wilson hasn’t played in a regular season game since Christmas Eve, long before he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He will debut on Sunday after dressing last week as the backup quarterback to Justin Fields. Despite the time missed due to a calf injury, he trusts he is ready to work with his receivers.
“You’re constantly working extra”, Wilson said via the Steelers’ website. “Even when I was injured and everything else, we were getting extra work on the side. That was key, doing as much as I could. But also, I think just talking ball. These guys love football”.
Indeed, this might be the first time we’re hearing it from Wilson’s mouth, but we have heard multiple reports over the past few months about him getting extra reps in with his receivers any way he can. He set up workouts during the offseason, but that’s not feasible in-season. Instead, he settles for extra work before or after practice. And there is constant communication along the way.
As he always does, Russell Wilson went down a list of every single skill player who has worn a Steelers uniform since he has and described how amazing each of them are. He once again reserved special mention for Connor Heyward, who “gets the game of football”. He is certainly a Hall of Famer when it comes to praising coworkers.
“There’s so many guys that we have, the plethora of receivers that we have, the tight ends, the running backs”, Wilson said. “I think with our backs and with our guys up front and everything else, we’ve got a lot of opportunity, and we’re just constantly learning, and I think that’s how you create the timing rhythm for this to work”.
While he has snuck in reps wherever he can, Russell Wilson didn’t take a ton of formal reps until recently. This week, it appears that he has taken all or most of the first-team reps after previously practicing behind Fields. That was just one of about a dozen or two signs pointing to Wilson taking over.
But the fact is he has missed so much developmental time. Understandably, many might question whether he can perform at his best, coming in cold. Wilson hasn’t played a real game in about 10 months, and he played about six series in the preseason.
While Wilson has a decade-plus of experience to fall back on, he must prove to people what he can do in terms of knocking off the rust and being a quality starting quarterback. Many people, including those inside the Steelers organization, have come to like Justin Fields. Wilson must prove they are making the right decision by riding with him.
