The revenge game between Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos is on ice.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday that, as of now, the club is preparing to start Justin Fields on Sunday in Denver while Wilson continues to deal with a calf injury.
“As I sit here today, we’re preparing as if Justin is going to be our quarterback,” Tomlin said. “I think that’s the appropriate way to do it. Speculation is a waste of time. Russell’s hurt. He’s not available to us. So, as you guys know as a general practice, I focus my energy on those that are available and their readiness.”
Wilson missed Week 1 after the calf injury from early in training camp popped back up. Fields started the season opener, an 18-10 victory in Atlanta.
Tomlin wouldn’t speculate whether Wilson would start if he’s healthy on Sunday, calling it a “big if.”
“I just visited with him. He feels better today than he did over the weekend,” Tomlin said of Wilson. “What that means, I don’t know as we sit here today. I know that we’re going to take the same approach that we take with a lot of people in terms of injury. We’ll first start with his participation and his level of participation, his quality of participation. Over the course of the week, we’ll be analyzing whether he’s capable of protecting himself, whether he’s capable of being productive. When we get to those points, that’s when we’ll ponder his inclusion or not, and when that happens, it will probably be a component of that equation.”
Wilson began last week as the clear-cut starter but was listed as limited on Thursday and Friday and questionable heading into Sunday’s game. Ultimately, the Steelers ruled him out.
Fields had some dynamic moments with his legs vs. the Falcons, generating first downs, but he remained a scatter-shot passer. The hope is that starting the week with Fields getting the first-team reps and building a game plan around his strengths could help the former first-round pick improve in Week 2.
“Just saw Justin. He just finished a good workout here today and is excited about maybe going through a complete week with him in terms of the preparation process,” Tomlin told reporters on Tuesday. “But again, we’ll take it day by day. Russ is not expected to work in totality tomorrow — to what degree, I do not know — and then we’ll play it by ear from there based on the results and the things that we see in terms of whether or not we consider him and to what degree we consider him.”
