Russell Wilson Sends Message to Justin Fields After Winning Steelers Debut

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin took a lot of heat in the week-long leadup to Sunday’s clash with the New York Jets for benching quarterback Justin Fields to play Russell Wilson, who hasn’t played a down since last season.

Tomlin told Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer his decision to make the QB switch was him “going rogue” in order to find out what he had in both of his signal-callers to be better prepared going into the postseason.

Wilson ultimately ended up proving Tomlin right in his decision — at least for this week — after leading the Steelers to a 37-15 “Sunday Night Football” win over New York. And though it appears he’s the team’s starter for now, Wilson humbly took a moment to give Fields his flowers for leading the team to a 4-2 record.

“I also want to give credit to Justin, man,” Wilson told NBC Sports’ Melissa Starks after the win. “How he got us in this position, what a great player he is. Just this whole team, I really love being here. … I’m just grateful God gave me an opportunity.”

In his six starts, Fields threw for 1,106 yards, five touchdowns and one interception while rushing for another 231 yards and five more scores. But he only reached the 200-passing-yard plateau twice in those games.

It took Wilson just one game to achieve that, throwing for 264 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions against the Jets while also adding a rushing touchdown. Additionally, receiver George Pickens had his best game of the season, catching five of his nine targets for 111 yards (22.2 yards per catch) and he scored his first touchdown of the season.

It should also be noted that the Steelers entered the game ranked 24th in total offense, averaging 298.3 yards per game, and 22nd in scoring offense, averaging 20.7 points per game.

In Wilson’s lone start, Pittsburgh set new season highs in both total offense (409 yards) and points.

Related: Steelers Locker Room Divided Over Justin Fields, Russell Wilson Controversy