A quarterback controversy is starting to heat up for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It looked like Justin Fields was going to keep the job, but a rough primetime performance against the Dallas Cowboys has opened the door a little more for Russell Wilson. It sounds like Wilson is nearing full health, so Mike Tomlin will have to make a decision soon. Analyst Chris Simms has heard that the Steelers would prefer Wilson to be their starter.
“I think anybody you talk to around the league, it kind of seems like this is what the Steelers really want anyway,” Simms said Monday on Pro Football Talk. “They want Russell Wilson to be the starter. It has seemed that way, it seems like they’ve tried to frame it that way from the get-go, that Russell Wilson is number one.
“It’s felt like they’ve been trying to, ‘We don’t want to play Fields. We want to continue to groom him and make him the guy for the future, but let’s make Russell Wilson the guy right now.’ The door is definitely open.”
That lines up with what the NBC commentary team hinted at during the Cowboys game. It’s becoming more likely that Wilson will take back the starting job, maybe even as soon as this week. Although Fields hasn’t been the reason the Steelers have lost, he’s also still shown that he’s got issues with his game that need fixed.
The Steelers’ offense as a whole just hasn’t been good enough, and inserting Wilson into the starting lineup could be the boost it needs. He did win the initial quarterback battle, and he didn’t do anything to lose the job in the first place. He just got injured, and Tomlin typically doesn’t like to let guys lose their jobs due to injuries.
During that same episode, Mike Florio shared that he believes it’s really Tomlin who wants Wilson to start.
“It’s what Mike Tomlin wants,” Florio stated. “I don’t know about the rest of the organization, but it’s what Tomlin wants.”
Tomlin and Wilson seem to have a good connection, so that isn’t too crazy to assume. Tomlin could also prefer Wilson’s veteran experience. The biggest reason that it seemed like Wilson won the initial job was that he was less turnover-prone than Fields, but Fields has done a good job protecting the football. That doesn’t guarantee him job security though.
There’s no telling what will actually happen. Simms and Florio both seem to believe that Wilson will be given the starting job, but without knowing who they’re talking to, it’s impossible to say if the information is valid or not. Before he got injured, it seemed like Wilson was going to be the starter unless Fields wowed the Steelers. Now, it seems like that could still be the case.
That doesn’t mean Fields is done for the year. If Wilson struggles, Fields could always be placed back into the starting lineup. This will likely be a fluid situation until the end of the year, or if the Steelers finally start consistently producing on offense. That might be asking for too much though.
