Steelers' Russell Wilson praises Justin Fields ahead of expected change

The Pittsburgh Steelers spent the week preparing to move from quarterback Justin Fields to veteran Russell Wilson for the upcoming "Sunday Night Football" home game against the 2-4 New York Jets.

Wilson spoke with reporters on Thursday and praised the 25-year-old he's expected to replace for the first time this season.

"I think Justin's done a great job," Wilson said, as Brooke Pryor of ESPN shared. "I think he's a tremendous quarterback. I've fought against him over the years. He's a tremendous football player, a great teammate and all that. And I think more importantly for us is we continue to go on through the season. We want to get better and continue to grow. That's always the goal every year."

Fields guided the Steelers to a 4-2 record as Wilson recovered from a calf injury he first experienced early into training camp and then reaggravated ahead of Week 1. However, it was clear from the start of springtime workouts through the end of August that head coach Mike Tomlin always wanted to start Wilson. According to team insider Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tomlin and others within the Steelers "weren't going to let six weeks change their mind or change their plan," especially after Fields left plenty to be desired with his play.

Specifically, ESPN stats show that Pittsburgh will head into the weekend ranked 28th in the NFL with an average of 166.8 passing yards per game. Per the StatMuse website, Fields began Friday ranked 19th in the league with a combined 1,337 passing and rushing yards on the season.

One can only guess if a healthy Wilson would've won at least four of six starts leading up to the Jets game. He admitted watching the action from the sidelines over the past month and a half was "a challenge in itself" as he worked to return to full health.

"It's been disappointing," Wilson added, "but also I've grown a lot, too. I think that you realize that you just continue to love every day. You continue to find ways to lead, you continue to find ways to just embrace the challenges, the hard stuff, the obstacles in our way and everything else. And you look forward to the journey."

As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Steelers as 1.5-point underdogs against the Jets. At that time, it was unclear if Pittsburgh intended to feature special packages for Fields versus New York or simply let Wilson run what was always supposed to be his offense.