The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the more interesting teams to follow during training camp and the preseason. Pittsburgh has several new players to watch on offense, including a QB battle between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. However, Russell Wilson has been dealing with an injury that has kept him out of the competition.
Both Wilson and Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin are going to great lengths to assure fans that the situation is not dire.
According to ESPN's Brooke Pryor, Tomlin said on Friday that there haven't been any setbacks with Russell Wilson's calf injury. Tomlin clarified that Wilson just want “to keep a minor thing from becoming major.”
This came on the same day that Wilson dropped this quote in an interview with The Athletic's Mike DeFabo.
“I feel good,” Wilson said. “It’s nothing to panic about or get too worried about.”
If we're being honest, the story never sounded like a serious situation in the first place. Players are entering their first week of training camp and will inevitably encounter some setbacks. There is also the rest of training camp and the preseason to go, so even a minor injury is something that won't have an impact on the regular season.
Thankfully Russell Wilson is a veteran QB who does not need as much preparation time as a younger QB would.
How did Justin Fields look in place of Russell Wilson at Steelers training camp?
Justin Fields got a chance to rep with the first-team offense while Russell Wilson is sidelined with his calf injury.
So how did Fields look? It depends who you ask.
One viral social media post shows Fields hitting Van Jefferson for a 50-yard touchdown in practice. Understandably, this has many Steelers fans excited about Fields' potential.
However, The Athletic's Steelers insider Mark Kolby was quick to pump the brakes on that narrative.
“Don't get fooled of what you see on the internet of a long pass. I mean, he did the same thing he did in OTAs,” Kaboly said via 93.7 The Fan. “He looked spectacular at times. He looked suspect at times as well. I mean, that throw that you're probably seeing on the internet right now, the 50-yarder to Van Jefferson, it's seven on seven…Donte Jackson fell at the line of scrimmage, so [Jefferson] was running free.”
This sounds more like the Justin Fields experience that NFL fans are familiar with.
Kaboly's reporting does not mean that Fields has no chance to win the starting job, or that he's officially a bust. It does give us the proper context into the whole practice during which that viral video occurred.
We can't wait to see Justin Fields play in preseason games against live opponents. That's when we'll really learn about him.
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