Report: Russell Wilson Still Steelers QB1 When Healthy
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday the team will prepare as if quarterback Justin Fields will start against the Denver Broncos on Sunday while waiting to see about Russell Wilson’s health status (calf). Wilson won’t practice fully until Thursday at the earliest.
As of now, it appears that Fields will get the start against the Broncos in Denver on Sunday. Wilson is not in jeopardy of losing his starting spot, however, unless Fields has an earth-shattering performance. There might be a QB controversy then.
“Even though Fields is expected to start for the Steelers in Denver, the belief is that Wilson will get the job once he returns from his calf injury,” Jeremy Fowler of ESPN wrote. “Pittsburgh believes Wilson’s command of the offense is stronger, and it seems like only an explosive performance from Fields can change the trajectory.”
Tomlin said they’ll “play it by ear” based on Wilson’s participation and when he can participate.
“That’s a big if. I’m not into the hypotheticals, as I mentioned right now he’s not healthy, so my time and attention is focusing on the readiness of Justin,” Tomlin said when asked if Wilson will start on Sunday if he’s healthy.
Wilson aggravated the injury in practice last Thursday, once again feeling tightness in his https://twitter.com/ASaunders_PGH/status/1832136803941282003″>right
calf. Wilson initially suffered the calf injury on July 24 when pushing a sled during the team’s conditioning test.
Dan Graziano of ESPN also expects Fields to start on Sunday. He believes the Steelers want to be very cautious with Wilson’s right calf injury.
“The Steelers don’t want it to linger, and coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Wilson isn’t scheduled to participate much in Wednesday’s practice and that he’ll begin the week planning on Fields being the starter in Week 2,” Graziano wrote.
Fields completed 17 of 23 passes (73.9%) for 156 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 91.9 in Sunday’s 18-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons. He also rushed for 57 yards on 14 attempts (4.1 average). Fields had an up-and-down performance, but he completed two deep passes to George Pickens (a 33-yarder and a 40-yarder) that resulted in two Chris Boswell field goals.
Fields had a shaky start against Atlanta but he performed better as the game went on. He admitted that he started slow and declared that it wouldn’t happen again. The 33-yard completion to Pickens right before halftime was a significant play in the game, as the defensive gave up a touchdown on the previous possession to allow the Falcons to take a 10-6 lead. Boswell nailed a 44-yard field goal to cut the Falcons’ lead to 10-9 at halftime.
Tomlin said “there was a lot of good” from Fields’ in his first start as the Steelers quarterback.
“Fields could certainly have been better Sunday. He was jittery early, and the coaches know he needs to work on reducing those nerves,” Graziano wrote. “But the Steelers designed a very conservative offensive game plan against offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s former team, working very hard to keep Fields’ throws out of the middle of the field, where Falcons safety Jessie Bates III is adept at messing up offensive game plans. NFL Next Gen Stats shows that Fields attempted zero passes between the hashes, only one between the numbers and almost nothing deep. The Steelers obviously would prefer to finish drives with touchdowns instead of the six field goals they kicked in Sunday’s 18-10 victory, but Fields was fine, especially on short notice.”
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