Russell Wilson’s regular-season debut for the Pittsburgh Steelers will have to wait. The Steelers officially declared the quarterback inactive for Sunday’s Week 1 game against the Atlanta Falcons as Wilson deals with a nagging calf injury.
Justin Fields, who grew up just outside of Atlanta in Kennesaw, Ga., is slated to start.
Wilson initially injured his calf on July 24 when he was pushing a sled during the team’s conditioning test. The injury limited Wilson during the first two weeks of training camp and forced him to miss the first preseason game.
On Thursday, just three days before the season opener, his status was called into question when Wilson aggravated the calf during a routes-on-air segment of practice. He left practice and was listed as a limited participant. On Friday, Fields confirmed he took the team reps while Wilson was again limited.
Wilson said this week that he would do everything in his power to play and planned to test it ahead of the game.
“If I can go, I’m going to go and try to do everything I can to help us win,” Wilson said Friday. “That’s how I think about it. If not, I’m going to do everything that I can to help us win in that way, too.”
On Sunday at about 10:25 a.m. ET, Wilson came onto the field for early warmups. He walked the length of the field several times and then threw numerous passes into both end zones. He also participated in a more extensive warmup with teammates.
Here’s some video of Russell Wilson warming up ahead of today’s game. pic.twitter.com/5QKyAxHmHC
— Mike DeFabo (@MikeDeFabo) September 8, 2024
Wilson will be in uniform and serve as the emergency third quarterback, the Steelers announced. Kyle Allen will serve as Fields’ backup.
For the Steelers, the decision to list Wilson as inactive was about more than just managing pain. Twice over the past five seasons, he led the league in sacks taken. With his mobility compromised, Wilson would have been a sitting duck behind a banged-up Steelers’ offensive line.
As for Fields, he’s in a better situation than most backups. Not only does he have three years of starting experience, but he also took almost all of the team reps the first two weeks of training camp and also started one of the three preseason games. This could be an opportunity for him to re-shape the depth chart after losing what coach Mike Tomlin insisted was a true QB competition in training camp.
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(Photo: Lon Horwedel / Imagn Images)
