Russell Wilson may lose his final opportunity to be a starter in the NFL after struggling on his Pittsburgh Steelers debut in preseason.
After signing with the Steelers following his release from the Denver Broncos , Wilson was limited at the start of training camp due to a calf injury. However, he was a full participant in practice, and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin announced Wilson would start against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.
It was a debut to forget. The Pittsburgh offense struggled to get going with the veteran in the game, tallying four punts and a missed field goal on Wilson’s five drives.
Wilson took a couple of third-down sacks, which was a trait Broncos fans took issue with over the last two seasons. Both sacks ruined drives and led to punts, and through the Steelers’ first four drives, they had just 12 net yards, four punts, and a single first down - and were yet to get past their own 34-yard line.
In the 9-3 defeat, Wilson completed 8-of-10 passes for 47 yards, and a lot of those yards came on three third-down passes that were well short of first downs. Meanwhile, Justin Fields completed 11-of-17 for 92 yards.
While Wilson was nursing his calf injury, Fields seized his opportunity to get valuable reps with the first-team offense. He immediately showed off his rushing ability to get the Steelers their first points, scrambling for 20 yards and throwing a five-yard completion to set up Chris Boswell’s 43-yard field goal before halftime.
Fields also had seven straight completions and the offense, while far from perfect, appeared to strike a better rhythm with him than with Wilson. However, the veteran has been the favorite to start since he landed in Pittsburgh.
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Tomlin suggested the competition will “heat up” with the 35-year-old nearing full fitness. Perhaps the quarterback competition is heating up in an unintended way, with Fields now impressing of the two.
“It’s probably in the same place that I've described it throughout the spring and the summer,” Tomlin told reporters ahead of preseason action. “Both guys are vying for the role. Russ has pole position because of the collective body of work, the totality of the body of work that he brings into the circumstance.
“Both guys are new to us. We're getting an opportunity to get to know them through this process. It's been a great process. Now that Russ has full health, it's going to heat up over the next couple of weeks, and I'm excited about watching it happen.”
Pittsburgh has one preseason game, a clash with the Detroit Lions next week, remaining. The Steelers begin the 2024 NFL season with a trip to face the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 8.
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