Quarterback Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers are currently gearing up to take part in the 2024 NFL season, which is slated to begin in just over three weeks. Wilson missed some of training camp with a calf injury but returned to practice on August 6, and the Steelers now have officially wrapped up training camp and will turn their attention to finishing out the preseason in one piece.
Given his age and injury history, many fans were concerned that Wilson's calf injury could be more something than it was nothing, but now, the former Super Bowl champion is assuring folks that everything is all good.
“I've been working every single day; even the days I was a little bit lighter in team [drills], I was doing all the fundamental work,” said Wilson, per Allison Koehler of Steelers Wire, via Chris Adamski of TribLive on X, formerly Twitter. “Obviously, over the last two weeks, I’ve really been building up a lot more reps in team drills. That’s been great. I’ve been full [practice] for the last several days.
“I’m feeling good. I’m ahead of schedule. I’m just staying the course.”
It remains to be seen whether head coach Mike Tomlin will opt to give Wilson any minutes during the team's remaining preseason games.
A whirlwind of an offseason
One thing was very evident after watching the Steelers throughout the 2023 NFL season, and that was that there quarterback play needed some immense improvement if they were going to insert themselves back into contention in the AFC.
Pittsburgh essentially gave themselves two options in that department this offseason not only by signing Wilson in free agency after his release from the Denver Broncos but also by trading for former Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields, who has been inconsistent but has shown some promising flashes thus far in his NFL career.
At this point, it would figure that Wilson will be Tomlin's starter on day one, assuming he is back and fully healthy. Although his Broncos tenure left quite a bit to be desired, there is legitimate question as to how much of that can be attributed to Wilson himself, or to the dysfunction of that team as a whole.
Fields, meanwhile, provides a more than serviceable backup in the event that Wilson's struggles continue or that he goes down with injury.
In any case, the Steelers will kick things off for week one on the road vs the Atlanta Falcons.
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