Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin revealed on Tuesday he is “getting ready” as if Justin Fields will function his beginning quarterback for a second straight sport as veteran Russell Wilson continues to recuperate from a lingering calf problem.
For a chunk revealed Wednesday morning, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler indicated Fields seemingly will not win the QB1 job on a full-term foundation even when he guides the Steelers to a 2-0 begin.
“Regardless that Fields is anticipated to begin for the Steelers [at the 0-1 Denver Broncos this Sunday],” Fowler defined, “the idea is that Wilson will get the job as soon as he returns from his calf harm. Pittsburgh believes Wilson’s command of the offense is stronger, and it looks as if solely an explosive efficiency from Fields can change the trajectory.”
Wilson first harm his calf early into coaching camp after which reaggravated the harm earlier than Week 1. In Pittsburgh’s season-opening 18-10 win on the Atlanta Falcons this previous Sunday, Fields accomplished 17-of-23 passes for 156 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions to go together with 57 dashing yards. In keeping with ESPN stats, Fields ended Week 1 ranked 18th within the NFL with a 42.6 adjusted QBR.
“Fields might actually have been higher [against the Falcons],” ESPN’s Dan Graziano added. “He was jittery early, and the coaches know he must work on lowering these nerves. However the Steelers designed a really conservative offensive sport plan…working very arduous to maintain Fields’ throws out of the center of the sector, the place Falcons security Jessie Bates III is adept at messing up offensive sport plans. NFL Subsequent Gen Stats exhibits that Fields tried zero passes between the hashes, just one between the numbers and virtually nothing deep.”
The Steelers kicked six subject targets to open the marketing campaign at 1-0.
In the meantime, Alex Kozora of Steelers Depot famous that NFL insider Jay Glazer shared on the most recent version of the “NFL on Fox Podcast” that he spoke with Tomlin about Pittsburgh’s plans for the Denver contest.
“He is undecided but as a result of he simply desires to see the place Russell Wilson’s calf is,” Glazer mentioned about Tomlin. “I feel he seems at it and goes, ‘Man, redemption video games.’ I do know he loves redemption video games. So you possibly can take a look at one thing like that. However he isn’t capable of decide but till he sees the place Russell’s calf is.”
Wilson’s struggles with the Broncos through the 2022 and 2023 seasons had been well-documented, and the staff ate the biggest dead-cap hit in NFL historical past as a way to launch the 35-year-old this previous March. Assuming Glazer is appropriate, Tomlin could wait for so long as potential to call his beginning signal-caller for the Denver sport simply in case Wilson feels extra like himself by Friday afternoon.
As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Steelers as 2.5-point street favorites in opposition to the Broncos.
