Russell Wilson expected to make Steelers debut during Pittsburgh's second preseason game

It was delayed, but the Russell Wilson era in Pittsburgh is about to begin.

Shortly following his team's 20-12 loss to Houston Friday night in their preseason opener, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said that he anticipates Wilson taking the field for Pittsburgh's second preseason game , a home matchup against the Bills next Saturday night.

Wilson has been working his way back from a calf injury that was sustained just before the start of training camp. The veteran quarterback started to ramp up his practice participation last week after largely being a bystander during the first two weeks of camp.

When he has practiced, Wilson has looked sharp, which is a tribute to his ongoing preparation, both in his recovery as well as his understanding of the offense and his new teammates. When he wasn't practicing, Wilson partly made up for it by throwing to his teammates on the field after practice. He took mental reps during practice and was seemingly in constant communication with Tomlin and new Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.

"A lot of it is trusting the doctors and the trainers," Wilson recently said of his recovery process, via ESPN . "Then obviously every morning I'm getting up super early, training and getting ready to rock and roll. We try to be really smart about how much I'm doing every day, but we're pushing it too.

"I'm the kind of guy that wants to go all the time, and Coach Tomlin, he'll just pull you back a little bit. So I think that balance is really good."

Wilson's play when he has been able to practice has largely confirmed Tomlin's decision to name him as the starter over Justin Fields when the Steelers released their first depth chart. While Fields has looked sharp (he played well against Houston despite not leading a scoring drive), Wilson hasn't done anything to lose the job.

Against the Bills, Wilson will surely look to show what he can do while reinforcing his status as Pittsburgh's new QB1. It'll certainly help Wilson that Pittsburgh now has a game under its belt after several miscues by the offensive line somewhat spoiled Fields' Steelers debut on Friday night.