Mike Tomlin’s answer has been pretty similar each week when asked who is the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. This week was a little different. He is still preparing for Justin Fields to be the starter, but Russell Wilson is back as a full participant at practice.
“I think the fact that he’s a full participant is a door that’s ajar,” Tomlin said of Wilson’s chances of being active on Sunday during his weekly press conference via the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “But to say any more than that is to speculate because he’s gotta get through the day. He’s gotta show up on Thursday and see where the roads lead us in terms of that.”
Wilson will begin with the second-team offense in practice so the Steelers can evaluate how his body responds to the work. They of course also want to see the quality and level of production with his work after missing over a month.
“He’ll get reps with the second unit as to not disrupt Justin’s preparation, and then we’ll see where all of that leads us as we push through the week,” Tomlin said.
There’s been heavy speculation this week surrounding the Steelers’ quarterback situation. After falling to 3-2 and losing a second-straight game, it could be the perfect opportunity to transition back to Wilson as the QB1. It appears that could have to wait another week, but things are moving in a positive direction for Wilson.
Wilson has reportedly been medically cleared for the last couple weeks, but the team continued with its cautious approach given that he has already aggravated the injury once.
They will take a similar approach this week, just with the added element of Wilson being a full participant. His return is very close, which will ultimately force a decision one way or the other between Wilson and Fields.
“Until Russ gets to a point where we’re comfortable with what we’re looking at – he’s able to execute all schematics, he’s able to put together back to back consecutive days and so forth, I just think that’s a hypothetical conversation,” Tomlin said. “We’re gonna continue to push forward with Justin until those things are legitimate and then we’ll make decisions accordingly.”
If Wilson is able to log three full practices, and he looks good in the process, chances are good he will be active for his first game of the season Sunday in Las Vegas and available to enter the game in the event Fields struggles. This could also open the door for the team preparing Wilson as the starter in future weeks. Given that Wilson still has to prove his health over the course of a work week, it only makes sense to not disrupt the first-team reps for Fields.
It seems that we will get at least one more week of Fields starting, but things are close to getting very interesting in the Steelers’ quarterback room.
