It has not been officially confirmed by the Pittsburgh Steelers that Russell Wilson will start over Justin Fields in Sunday night's game against the New York Jets, but Wilson essentially did that during his media appearance on Thursday.

“It's the first game of the year for me. But I've been fortunate to be in a lot of first games. So the confidence is there obviously,” Russell Wilson said, via Mike DeFabo of The Athletic.

Justin Fields helped the Steelers reach a 4-2 record, but the Steelers seemingly are giving Wilson a shot to see if he performs any better. Fields played well at times, but the Steelers won games predominantly due to their strong defense. That is still likely the blueprint for Pittsburgh with Wilson under center, but maybe the offense can perform a bit better.

When discussing likely being benched, Fields was accountable for his play, saying he could have performed better to make sure it was not justifiable to put him on the bench. Maybe Fields will get another chance later on, but Wilson seems to be getting his turn now to try to help the Steelers offense perform to a higher ceiling. It will not be easy against a talented Jets defense.

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Russell Wilson to face big tests early on with Steelers

As mentioned before, the Jets have a talented defense, so it will not be easy for him to lead the Steelers to a win. Luckily, Pittsburgh's defense is strong as well, so Wilson will likely not need to turn in a masterclass of a performance to get a win. Wilson will be facing quality teams in the coming weeks as well if he keeps the starting job.

After this week against the Jets, the Steelers will host the New York Giants, who are not a strong offensive team, but a qualify defensive team with one of the better defensive lines in the NFL. Still, Wilson should not need to put up many points to come away with a win. The following games are against the Washington Commanders and Baltimore Ravens, who will undoubtedly be big tests if Wilson keeps the starting job for those games.

It will be interesting to see how Wilson fares, and how much leash he will get as the starting quarterback. If he struggles, there likely will be calls to return to Fields given that he helped the team go 4-2 to start the season.