Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin hasn’t yet said if Justin Fields will remain his starting quarterback when veteran Russell Wilson is cleared to return to action from a lingering calf injury that’s kept Wilson sidelined throughout September.
During an appearance on Pittsburgh sports radio station 93.7 The Fan, NFL insider Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk suggested that Tomlin doesn’t want to bench a healthy Wilson until such a decision becomes necessary.
“The challenge is keeping Russell Wilson from activating his personal media machine in the event that he knows he’s ready to go and he’s frustrated about not playing,” Florio said, as shared by Matthew Marczi of Steelers Depot. “That’s the only downside to this, but I think they know how to handle him in a way that will keep him from trying to make his case through his (public relations) representatives to reporters who would be pushing the agenda that, ‘Why did he come here? He should be traded.'”
Wilson reportedly lost members of the Denver Broncos locker room during his first season with the club in 2022 due to his personality and antics. After the Broncos ate the largest dead-cap hit in NFL history to release Wilson this past March, Aditi Kinkhabwala of CBS Sports insisted that there was “a very valid reason” that head coach Sean Payton wanted the 35-year-old “nowhere near” the Denver locker room.
“I think that’s why they’re doing things like giving him the ‘petty game ball,'” Florio added about the Steelers’ handling of Wilson.
Florio is hardly the only person to hint that an unhappy Wilson could cause behind-the-scenes problems for Pittsburgh. With that said, Fields thus far has guided the 2-0 Steelers to just one touchdown across 21 offensive drives. According to ESPN stats, the 25-year-old enters Week 3 of the campaign ranked 23rd in the league with a 41.8 adjusted QBR and tied for 23rd with an average of 6.3 yards gained per pass attempt.
Fields is on track to get the nod for this Sunday’s home game against the 2-0 Los Angeles Chargers. If he again puts up lackluster passing numbers, Tomlin may hope that Wilson is good to go for the Week 4 matchup at the Indianapolis Colts (0-2) on Sept. 29.
