'Russell Wilson Is The Starter!' - NFL Analyst on Steelers

As training camp started, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson injured his calf and was held out of full team activities for nearly two weeks. That opened the door for Justin Fields to get the first-team reps.

On Friday night, Fields had a solid three series going 5-for-6 for 67 yards. He didn’t throw any touchdowns and he didn’t turn the ball over, which was lucky considering there were two fumbled snap exchanges between Fields and Steelers center Nate Herbig.

Fields also took a pair of sacks, and this led former NFL head coach turned analyst Herm Edwards to go on ESPN’s SportsCenter and speak about his play against the Houston Texans.

"There were some encouraging signs when he got the ball off,” Edwards said . “But there's also some signs that show disappointment in the fact that they were really sloppy on offense. Ball exchange, quarterback-center, holding the ball too long in the pocket at times.

“We saw this when he was in Chicago...He had some early completions, but at the end of the day, he kind of fell back to how he was playing in Chicago."

In reality, the first sack by the Texans’ Danielle Hunter was so fast that as soon as Fields finished his dropback, he was on the ground. The discussion during the game was also for Fields to focus on being a pocket passer and not running, which likely led to holding the ball longer than usual.

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Wilson hasn’t played a snap this preseason but is scheduled to play this weekend. In Edwards’ eyes, he feels this is Wilson’s team when the season begins.

"No doubt, Russell Wilson is the starter,” Edwards declared. “And now Justin Fields, will he have a role? I think he might have a role, maybe a slash role when the season starts. But right now, it's Russell Wilson's job to lose when the season starts."

At this point, Fields has seen the vast majority of practice reps with the first team and has absorbed a lot of the offense already. Wilson will get the opportunity to prove he still has something left in the tank against the Buffalo Bills this Saturday night.

This quarterback competition is far from over, and it’s a lot closer than people, including Herm Edwards, want to believe.