Steelers' decision to play it safe with Russell Wilson may end up gift-wrapping Justin Fields the starting QB job

The time has finally come.

It's officially a game day for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will be taking on the Atlanta Falcons in a matter of minutes.

But after heading into the season with Russell Wilson as the clear starter and captain of the team, the tides have changed:

Justin Fields to start Vs. Falcons

The writing has been on the wall since Thursday , the first day in which Wilson popped up on the injury report with a calf injury that rendered him a limited participant.

That was only magnified on Friday when Wilson didn't take any team reps and was seen working off to the side, away from his teammates.

But what was most telling about the situation was what you heard from Wilson on Friday:

"I think the biggest thing is you hate these nagging things," said Wilson. "I've been feeling great the past few weeks. I've been feeling really good. Just kind of felt a little funny yesterday...

"... I think the most important thing is just getting prepared to win. I think that's our focus right now, doing whatever we can, myself included, and obviously getting ready to rock and roll, and I'll be ready to go. If I can go, I'm going to go and try to do everything I can to help us win. That's how I think about it. And if not, I'm going to do everything I can to help us win that way, too. So, I'm going to do everything I can, as you guys know, to be ready to rock."

Reportedly , Wilson was pushing to play as late as Saturday night, but with it being the same calf that bothered him in camp, Pittsburgh has decided to play it safe, setting up Justin Fields with an opportunity to take the starting job with a win via a stellar performance, and in his homecoming.

Full Inactives

• QB Russell Wilson
• OG Isaac Seumalo
• WR Roman Wilson
• DL Dean Lowry
• S Jaylen Elliott