At least for now, Justin Fields is still the starting quarterback in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers are planning for Fields to lead the way on Sunday for their Week 3 matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers as Russell Wilson continues to recover from his lingering calf injury. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that Wilson will be limited in practice again this week.
“We’re kind of in the same posture as we were in last week with Russ,” Tomlin said, via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “As I sit here today, Russ is not scheduled to be a full participant in practice [on Wednesday], and so we’re reading a plan that features Justin and his readiness.”
Tomlin’s comments were nearly identical to what he said last week, too.
Wilson first strained his calf early in training camp, and he aggravated it again days before their season opener. That led to Fields, who the team traded for in a deal with the Chicago Bears earlier this offseason, to start in his place.
Though he’s not done anything outstanding, Fields has led the Steelers to a 2-0 start this season. He went 13-of-20 for 117 yards and threw his first touchdown of the season in their 13-6 win over the Broncos on Sunday. He threw for 156 yards in their opening win over the Atlanta Falcons, too. He’s completed just shy of 70% of his passes through two games, which is a career-high, and he’s yet to commit a turnover.
Despite his successes so far, Tomlin isn’t ready to discuss flipping Fields and Wilson on the depth chart just yet. And until Wilson is back to full strength, Tomlin will keep waiting to have that conversation.
“My position regarding the pecking order and the depth chart has not changed, guys,” Tomlin said. “And it won’t until the other guy gets healthy, and then we’ll give it real consideration. Until then, I won’t speculate. I don’t know how many ways I can tell you guys that.”
As for Wilson’s status, Tomlin doesn’t have much of a timeline. Based on what he’s seen so far from him health-wise, though, Wilson simply isn’t ready to play just yet.
“We’ll follow Russ throughout the week, and if his participation gets to a level in participation and quality where we should consider him, we’ll delve into that at that time, and obviously when that happens is a component of the consideration,” Tomlin said.
“But as I sit here today, he is not scheduled to be a full participant tomorrow in practice and so we’re readying ourselves around Justin and we’ll stay in that mindset until something else happens. Hypotheticals is a waste of our time now.”