Not only will veteran quarterback Russell Wilson start for the Pittsburgh Steelers under center in Week 7 against the New York Jets on Sunday Night Football, he’ll also get the Week 8 start for the Black and Gold against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football next week.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, that’s the case as Wilson is expected to be the starter in Week 8 as well, regardless of how he plays on Sunday night against the Jets.
“We’re gonna start in Pittsburgh, where Russell Wilson’s gonna start tonight at quarterback. It’s his first game since Christmas Eve against New England last season. But Mike Tomlin believes that Russell Wilson is over his calf injury,” Schefter said of Wilson and the Steelers’ QB situation, according to video via ESPN. “He knows that Justin Fields has played well, but he wants to see what Russell Wilson has, especially considering that Pittsburgh has yet to play a division game this season and they wanna know what it’s going to be moving forward.
“He will not be a short leash, according to Jeff Darlington. Wilson also is expecting to start next week against the Giants before the Steelers have their bye. That’ll be something to watch to.”
That’s not a surprise, but at least it’s out there now from a respected reporter like Schefter, which should put an end to the speculation for the next week regarding the Steelers’ most important position offensively.
It is an interesting decision from head coach Mike Tomlin, considering the Steelers are 4-2 coming into the matchup against the Jets and coming off of a 32-point offensive output against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 6 on the road. But, based on a report from ESPN’s Jeff Darlington on Sunday NFL Countdown on ESPN earlier in the day, Tomlin wants to find out now what Wilson has, rather than waiting until later in the season when things are more difficult from a schedule aspect.
The move to Wilson is one that many in the organization reportedly don’t agree with, which has Tomlin going “Lone Ranger.” For his sake, it better work out, because the Steelers were seemingly back on track after the win over the Raiders, and there is a lot of belief in Fields within the building.
Rocking the boat here on his own accord typically isn’t what Tomlin does as it’s about winning games and finding ways to stack wins. But he’s eyeing something bigger picture here, which led to the move.
It won’t be a short leash, either. Wilson seemingly will start on Monday Night Football against the New York Giants, too, before the Steelers enter the Week 9 bye and reassess.
