Former Denver Broncos offensive lineman Mark Schlereth continues to bash Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson this offseason. His disdain for Wilson is a truly something else.
Schlereth said in March that Wilson was flat-out “garbage” in Denver. He’s now accusing Wilson of not being accountable for his downfall in Denver.
“I think when you’re delusional, you think you can point the finger at eight million different places that say, ‘This is why this happened. This is why.’ That toxic positivity and surrounding yourself with people that basically (say), ‘It’s not your fault man.’ I mean, that’s not derogatory. That’s just a fact,”Schlereth said on his The Stinkin Truth podcast.
Schlereth said in May that the Steelers’ quarterback situation will result in Mike Tomlin having his first losing season.
Schlereth’s biggest concern centers around Wilson and Fields’ tendency to hold onto the ball too long and take unnecessary sacks. In the last two seasons, Wilson has taken 100 sacks. Fields has taken 99. No other quarterback in the NFL has taken more than 80, according to former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky.
“You’re holding the ball and you’re taking sacks,” Schlereth said. “The sack totals are a quarterback-driven statistic.
“I look at the Pittsburgh Steelers and what an incredible run of never having a losing season… you take 50 sacks, you take 3.2 seconds to throw the football. You take those sacks, you’re not going to win games.”
Wilson had a bad rap in Denver and Seattle for lacking leadership and not being a good teammate. Nothing of such has been showcased in Pittsburgh so far, however.
Wilson sat next to Steelers offensive lineman Spencer Anderson at the Penguins game last month. Anderson was a seventh-round pick out of Maryland last year and is not a marquee name on the roster. That action by Wilson is a far cry from the reports out of Denver that he was out of touch and didn’t relate with anyone in the locker room.
Wilson also reportedly has an incredible work ethic. Mark Kaboly of The Athletic said it rivals former Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown’s.
“One team source said the Steelers haven’t seen somebody work as hard as Wilson at his craft since the early days of Antonio Brown, who was notorious for the effort he put into his game to become the best wide receiver in the league for a span of more than five years,” Kaboly wrote.
The Steelers and Wilson play the Broncos at Mile High in Week 2. In addition to silencing Schlereth, I’m sure Wllson would love nothing more to get revenge on Sean Payton and his former team.