Now that Russell Wilson is back to being a full participant in practice, I guess we can call him Mr. Unlimited. While he is still working his way back from a calf injury, he is very close to dressing as an active for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He did dress for the first five weeks, but he did so as the emergency third quarterback.
This week, however, Wilson is doing all of the work, and there shouldn’t be any question about his health. It looks like the Steelers still plan to start Justin Fields for at least another week, but we are nearing the point of no return. Mike Tomlin will soon have to make a declaration: who is the Steelers’ quarterback?
He has put it off for weeks with the easy enough excuse that only Fields was healthy. But Russell Wilson is basically healthy now, even if he isn’t yet taking extensive first-team reps. He should dress on Sunday, however, one snap away from playing due to injury or incompetence. He talked about his expectations if he were to play while speaking to reporters on Thursday.
“Yeah, I feel confident that I’d be ready to play and play at a high level, and I think we’re being really smart too and trying to understand exactly how I feel”, Wilson said, via the Steelers’ website. “It’s my first week really back out there with you guys and playing and all that stuff, so I feel really confident about that and the ball’s spinning, and that’s a good thing. So I have no doubt in my mind once I step between the white lines, I’ll be ready to go”.
Wilson also said that he feels fully confident in his ability to protect himself and has no fear of taking a hit. He cites the Steelers’ fierce pass rushers for giving him plenty of simulation work as he prepares for his 2024 debut.
Russell Wilson injured his calf during the Steelers’ conditioning test to open training camp. That took some time to recover from, assuming he ever did fully recover. We know he was limited in the second preseason game after missing the first. While he played more freely in the third game, he also only played one drive.
Not long after that, Wilson aggravated his calf injury during practice leading up to the season opener. Between then and now, he had only been practicing in a limited capacity. But now he is at the point at which he can do virtually everything. It’s merely a process of making sure he is comfortable and giving him reps with the starters.
Even though he is unlikely to start Sunday in Las Vegas, Wilson needs to be effectively 100 percent as the backup quarterback. If he is only one snap from playing, he can’t be worrying about his calf while scrambling away from Maxx Crosby. In other words, he better have the physical conditioning to be able to back up that confidence in his readiness.
