The move at starting quarterback from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson in Week 7 for the Pittsburgh Steelers against the New York Jets on Sunday Night Football is a rather curious choice for Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin.
It’s a decision that many within the organization reportedly don’t agree with, as Fields was playing well and had the Steelers at 4-2 on the season coming off of a 32-13 blowout win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 6.
Tomlin wasn’t letting good be the enemy of great, though. According to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington, Tomlin wants to find out what he has in Wilson as the starting quarterback now during this stretch of the season against the Jets and New York Giants before the Week 9 bye week rather than needing to find out later in the season.
“I can tell you that on Wednesday, Mike Tomlin assembled his team, players, and coaches and told them that let’s address the elephant in the room, the quarterback situation. Russell Wilson will have his chance this week as the starting quarterback of the team. He proceeded to get first-team reps in practices. But let me just be clear, this was not a decision that was met with unanimous approval within the Steelers’ organization,” Darlington said of the quarterback change in Pittsburgh, according to video via ESPN. “This was Mike Tomlin’s decision, and some wondered whether Justin Fields should remain the starter. What Tomlin is telling these people, players, and coaches privately, he’s basically saying, I want to find out now what we have in Russell Wilson.
“Yes, Fields has done a good job, gotten him to four and two, but he said he’d rather find out earlier in the season what he has in Russell Wilson, rather than later. He said if we’re plugging along throughout the season winning games, we might still be wondering if we can be even better. He hopes to find that out.”
At 4-2 and entering a pivotal Week 7 primetime matchup against the New York Jets, which could theoretically have AFC Wild Card implications, it’s an interesting time to experiment with the offense, especially with the Steelers having a winning record and coming off a 32-point showing.
But Tomlin’s belief that it’s better to find out now if they can be better offensively with Wilson than Fields is understandable. It’s better to do it now, leading up to matchups against the Jets and the Giants before the Week 9 bye week, rather than needing to find out late in the season in the stretch of AFC North play when the schedule gets incredibly hard.
While many in the building don’t agree with Tomlin’s decision, it is ultimately his decision alone. He believes in Wilson and wants to find out, which makes sense. For Tomlin’s sake, though, he better be right, and Wilson better improve the Steelers’ offense.
Going against the advice of the rest of the coaching staff is a surprising move, certainly. But this is a unique situation with Wilson being named the starter and a team captain entering the year and then getting hurt two days before the start of the season.
Tomlin has seen Fields and likes what he’s seen through the first six games. However, in the Steelers’ offense under Arthur Smith, Wilson remains an unknown in game action. Tomlin aims to find out Sunday night.
Darlington added that it won’t be a short leash for Wilson either, particularly on Sunday night.
“And by the way, one other thing in these conversations, I also sense this is not a short leash for Russell Wilson. If he struggles today, I anticipate him still starting next week on Monday night against the Giants,” Darlington added regarding Wilson and the Steelers. “I expect then the evaluation to happen in the bye week. So, not a short leash today. If you see him struggling, I do anticipate the Steelers keeping him in the game.”
So, there you have it.
We’ll see how Wilson performs today against the Jets. No matter how he looks, it sounds like he’ll get the start in Week 8 against the Giants, too. Then, in the Week 9 bye, Tomlin and the Steelers will have a big decision on their hands.
