Just before the start of Mike Tomlin’s press conference, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero reported that Russell Wilson was “in line” to start against the New York Jets in Week 7. Tomlin spoke at length about the quarterback situation in his press conference. Though he offered less definitive language than Pelissero, it is much different than what he has said in recent weeks.
“At the quarterback position, like I said last week, we were scheduled for Russ [Wilson] to work in totality. He did that,” Tomlin said via video on the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “Over the course of the week, I got comfortable with his ability to display his health, now it’s about knocking the rust off. He did some of that last week. He is in consideration this week. We’ll see where that leads us. Both guys at the quarterback position are scheduled to work tomorrow, and we’ll just walk it day by day all geared towards putting ourselves in best position to win the football game.”
He said that an ultimate decision will come “closer to game time,” but it sure sounds like Wilson will get his first start in the Black and Gold.
This obviously comes at the expense of Justin Fields, who has led the team to a 4-2 start, including three big wins on the road. While Fields has played better than most probably expected, the offense has experienced too many slow starts to not be curious about what Wilson brings to the table. The offense has yet to put up a complete game with an even effort across all four quarters.
The Steelers initially brought in Wilson to be the veteran leader of the offense. There is a reason he was given pole position throughout the entire offseason. There is a reason he was named QB1 coming out of training camp. There is a reason he has remained atop the depth chart while out with a calf injury. He now will get an opportunity to begin to prove those reasons to be true.
There is a relatively high bar to clear for Wilson, with Fields winning over a large portion of the fan base with his 4-2 start.
Tomlin cited the “totality” of Wilson’s resume as a reason they are comfortable with him stepping in as the starter. What has gone overlooked in many of these conversations over the last few weeks is the fact that Wilson has been to two Super Bowls and won one, and that he is a nine-time Pro Bowler and potential future Hall of Famer.
This Steelers team isn’t the 2022 or 2023 Denver Broncos where he struggled. Now Wilson will have a chance to turn around the negative narratives that have been following him the last couple years.
