Head coach Mike Tomlin puzzled fans recently with his decision to start Russell Wilson over Justin Fields for the Pittsburgh Steelers upcoming game vs the New York Jets. Fields hasn't exactly been lighting the world on fire in his starts so far this year, but the Steelers sit at an impressive 4-2, and the young quarterback has been doing a solid job of protecting the football and using his legs to extend plays.

Recently, Tomlin gave a blunt explanation of what went into his decision to make the switch, as explained by Jay Glazer on FOX Sports.

“I talked to Mike Tomlin about it last night, and he said ‘look, I went lone ranger on it,'” said Glazer. “…there were a lot of people inside that organization who were (against the decision) as well, and he said ‘look, if it doesn't work out, I'll take the heat, I'll shoulder the blame, no problem.' He said, ‘the reason why I did this is I knew I had two quarterbacks going into camp who are very capable, but I wanted to see both of them before I made a long term decision. Well, I haven't seen the other one.'”

Article Continues Below

Indeed, Wilson has yet to appear in a game for the Steelers as he has rehabbed a calf injury that hampered him throughout training camp. The last time we saw Wilson on an NFL field, he was a member of the Denver Broncos. While his tenure in Denver overall was a failure, Wilson did show some flashes of the former MVP candidate version of himself down the stretch last year for the Broncos, nearly helping the team make a miraculous playoff berth following a rough start to the season.

In any case, the Steelers and Jets are slated to kick things off at 8:20 PM ET.