Mike Tomlin's latest comments place a doubtful outlook on Steelers QB Russell Wison's return to Denver

The Pittsburgh Steelers are 1-0 coming off their Week 1 win against the Atlanta Falcons.

Traveling yet again this week, after Justin Fields made is homecoming in Atlanta , some wondered if Russell Wilson would be healthy enough to make his return to Colorado against the Denver Broncos.

Well, at least at this point and time, that doesn't look likely:

Fields Preparing to Start

“I just visited with [Wilson],” Tomlin said. “He feels better today than he did over the weekend. And so what that means, I don’t know as we sit here today. I know that we’re going to take the same approach 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 will probably be a component of that equation.”

At first, it seemed like Russell Wilson was on track to gearing himself back up in practice, setting up his return to pole position, and subsequentially, Denver. But the more Coach Tomlin spoke, the more concerned he sounded regarding Wilson:

"[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. And so as you guys know, as a general practice, I focus my energy on those that are available and their readiness. Just saw Justin, he just finished a good workout here today and excited about maybe going through a complete week with him in terms of the preparation process. But, again, we’ll take it day by day...

“...Russ is not scheduled 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.”

Wilson could make his return to practice later in the week, at which point his participation level will be closely monitored. If he's not a full participant, it leaves his status in doubt for not only Sunday, but potentially, the future.

When asked if Russell Wilson was still QB #1 when healthy, Tomlin didn't mince words:

“I’m not going to get into hypotheticals."

We'll see what the reality is soon enough.