When the Steelers play the New York Jets at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday night, head coach Mike Tomlin already knows who will start as quarterback. Simply put, he won’t yet reveal to the Jets who that will be. While Wilson is rehabilitating from a calf injury, Justin Fields has started the Steelers’ first six games at quarterback. However, earlier this week, Tomlin stated that he would make the choice to start Russell Wilson against the Jets later in the week.
In anticipation of hosting the Jets(2-4), the Steelers(4-2) had their final complete practice on Friday. Tomlin, however, chose not to reveal the starting quarterback, just stating that he had made that decision. Tomlin declared, “I’m going to keep that in-house.” Tomlin did concede, though, that Wilson, who missed the first five games, had looked well in his second week of full practice. Wilson made his debut in a victory over the Raiders last week, filling in for Fields as the backup after the latter had not practiced properly before the game.
“He seemed intelligent to me. Tomlin remarked, “I also thought Justin was smart. “I thought we had a highly productive week from both guys and from the unit as a whole.” Wilson was released by the Broncos, who decided to proceed with rookie quarterback Bo Nix, and the Steelers signed him as a free agent in the offseason. After the Bears made the decision to select quarterback Caleb Williams with the first pick in this year’s draft, they traded for Fields a few days later in exchange for late-round draft picks from Chicago.
The 13-year veteran Wilson was positioned in what Tomlin referred to as the “pole position” to start for the Steelers during training camp and the offseason before being selected the team’s starter for the regular season. Fields moved up into the starting lineup after he worsened a calf injury that had kept him out of action for two weeks during training camp, three days before the team’s regular season opener against Atlanta on September 8. Fields has completed more than 66 percent of his ball attempts this season, throwing for 1,106 yards with five touchdown passes and one interception. He has also used his legs as a weapon to rush for 231 yards and five scores.
Wilson lacks Fields’ rushing skills, as Tomlin admitted during his press conference on Tuesday earlier this week. However, the Steelers may also be trying to improve their passing approach, which is now 28th in the NFL with an average of 166.8 yards per game. Throughout his career, Wilson—a nine-time Pro Bowl player who has twice led his teams to Super Bowl victories—has established himself as one of the NFL’s most dangerous quarterbacks. The 35-year-old has 334 touchdown passes, 106 interceptions, and more over 43,000 yards of passing experience.
Wilson lacks Fields’ rushing skills, as Tomlin admitted during his press conference on Tuesday earlier this week. However, the Steelers may also be trying to improve their passing approach, which is now 28th in the NFL with an average of 166.8 yards per game. Throughout his career, Wilson—a nine-time Pro Bowl player who has twice led his teams to Super Bowl victories—has established himself as one of the NFL’s most dangerous quarterbacks. The 35-year-old has 334 touchdown passes, 106 interceptions, and more over 43,000 yards of passing experience.
His touchdown-to-interception ratio, which he will face on Sunday as the quarterback for the Jets, is third in NFL history behind Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. In 15 games with the Broncos last season, Wilson completed 26 touchdown passes versus eight interceptions. Regardless of who starts, Tomlin admitted that the Steelers may use both quarterbacks’ skill sets on Sunday against New York. Of course, he replied.
