Russell Wilson Leads List of Steelers Inactives vs. Falcons

The Pittsburgh Steelers have listed quarterback Russell Wilson (calf), left guard Isaac Seumalo (pectoral), wide receiver Roman Wilson (ankle), safety Jalen Elliott (healthy scratch) and defensive lineman Dean Lowry (healthy scratch) as inactive for Sunday’s season opener against the Atlanta Falcons. Kyle Allen will backup Justin Fields, while Wilson will be the emergency third quarterback.

Wilson aggravated the injury in practice on Thursday, once again feeling tightness in his right calf. He left practice, and Justin Fields took over at quarterback. Wilson initially suffered the calf injury on July 24 when pushing a sled during the team’s conditioning test.

Russell Wilson said that the injury hasn’t been bothering him of late. He played in the team’s final two preseason games without any obvious limitations. To him, Thursday’s discomfort came out of nowhere.

“You hate these nagging things,” he said. “I’ve been feeling great the last few weeks. I’ve been feeling really good. Just kind of felt a little funny (Thursday).”

Roman Wilson has slowly been working his way back after suffering a left ankle sprain on July 30, which was the early portion of training camp. Wilson suffered the ankle injury after being tackled on a jet sweep by cornerback Anthony Averett in seven shots.

Wilson was inactive for all three preseason games. Despite the setback, he still feels like he’s ready to hit the ground running in his rookie season.

“It does suck not being able to play in the preseason,” Wilson said. “I was really looking forward to it. But being able to play as soon as I can, that’s a blessing for me. It could have been worse.  I could have been sitting out for a longer time.”

Roman Wilson, who was limited throughout this week’s practice, has been trying to absorb as much knowledge as he can for when he gets back to action.

“For me, it’s really just the locking in on the details,” he said. “When I’m in meetings, obviously, I’m not being corrected on, so it’s really taking mental notes of what guys are getting corrected on, how they respond, how I would respond. And really just studying a lot of film for me.”

Seumalo suffered the pectoral injury on Aug. 28. He’s expected to miss the first couple games of the season.