Steelers QB Russell Wilson won't 'play with fear' in return to action

On Wednesday, quarterback Russell Wilson put together his most active and arguably best practice of Steelers training camp, displaying elite accuracy while taking most of the first-team reps.

However, head coach Mike Tomlin and his coaching staff are not yet committing to starting the 35-year-old in Pittsburgh's second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday after being limited for much of camp with a calf injury.

That decision will come in the next couple of days, but no matter how much action Wilson gets, he'll play like he did before his injury.

"I don't play with fear, never have," said Wilson . "You play smart, just like a normal game. You've got to know when to get down, gotta know when to slide. You've got to balance all those things."

Some would argue that the 13-year veteran doesn't need to risk reaggravating his calf injury in the preseason, but he doesn't feel the same.

"I always want to play, no matter what," Wilson added . "Anytime I can step in between the white lines, I don't care if it's in the parking lot, I just love playing the game. So the reality is, I'm always ready to play. I want to be in the huddle with the guys."

The Steelers may have felt that way if Wilson wasn't in the midst of a quarterback competition with Justin Fields, but that isn't the case.

Until this week, Fields has taken most of the first-team reps at quarterback and looked the part. So it makes sense that Wilson wants to show he can do the same this weekend against unfriendly competition.

While Wilson has been limited in much of the training camp, he feels ready to do just that.

"Yeah, I've been working every single day. Even the days I was a little bit lighter in team, I was getting all the fundamental work, and then obviously over the last two weeks, I've really been building up a lot more reps in the team drills and everything else. So that's been great," concluded Wilson . "I feel really good. I'm ahead of schedule."

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.