Steelers QB Russell Wilson's Injury Worse Than Expected?

Russell Wilson spoke today both of the quarterbacks spoke but Russell Wilson was the the guy that I think a lot of people had their eyes on Justin Fields hey excited to start is it an easier week when you have the whole week to prepare both answers were yes it's it stuff you saw coming Russell Wilson a little bit different he spoke about well the injury where he's at with the injury where he wants to be with the injury and to be honest with you the tone it sounds like it's changed a little bit from where it was even a week ago compared to where it is now let's give it a listen yeah I was you know mentally and physically just trying to get there um you know to go through the whole process see how I really felt coach and I talked on on Sunday um and uh you know we felt like wasn't wasn't ready yet trying to be smart and uh so that yeah I think I think it was a smart decision you know in terms of um we got confidence in our football team you that's a great thing about our team we got a great defense um we got great special teams and offensively we can do some really special things as well so um you know I thought that was a huge win for us the best part about that game is just running out Steelers uniform and just seeing the yellow towels everywhere uh that was pretty cool when this first half did you did you expect that this would linger as long when this first happened last week did you expect this might linger as long as it has you know I think I think when it happened in training camp I was disappointed because I knew it was you know it was pretty strong pretty uh you know good cab injury um and so that was disappointing but you know we we we kept our head up we worked our butts off every day the training room and myself and my got man well and everything else and just spent a lot of time just kind of get ready um and so when I tweeted again uh it was just it was like okay yeah you got to be smart here and not crazy push it too too bad um so I think that was the frustrating part obviously you know I want to be able to be out there between the white lines of my teammates so the first thing that stood out to me and I'm standing there I'm right behind Joe Rudder asking that question and you know it was it was it was a pretty strong injury my eyes popped what do you mean pretty strong we were told for a whole month this was no big deal this was not this was not a serious injury this was actually the smallest least concerning injury of all time if you asked Mike Tomlin and really Russell Wilson all throughout training camp and the preseason apparently it was a pretty strong injury he later talks about oh well you know I want to be 100% both mentally and physically before I'm back out there long story short I don't know if Mike Tomlin had a conversation with Russ and said hey we're sticking with Justin until Justin loses the job or if this is becoming progressively worse instead of progressively better with that calf injury but Russ is in my eyes pretty far from returning and what I got today was this is something that you know Russ might not return from in 2024 at least not be a starter for in 2024 because I mean he he was pretty clear there that this is this is something that's that's a little bit stronger than we anticipated then he even opened up to and admitted early on and him admitting that kind of I don't want to use the word defeat but it feels like it fits the narrative it feels like that fits what went on there that Russ is is kind of admitting defeat to the injury and the circumstance and I mean we could shut down Denver in week two I think that's a given the other part of this is we might be able to shut down a long run of if Justin continues to win doesn't matter how he performs Russ is the number two maybe the number three because who knows what this calf injury means do you did you pick up the same uh watching that yeah especially whenever he said pretty strong I was like oh this is this is definitely new information to me and new information to everybody it's unfortunate because I think a lot of people were excited about the prospect of Russell Wilson a veteran quarterback coming in with Arthur Smith a veteran offensive coordinator but at the same time whenever you look at the way he was kind of talking this is a guy that is always power of positivity the way that he's talking there you know you mentioned seems a little defeated it seems like he's basically admitting to the fact that hey you know this is like like I worried about preseason this is like Joe burrow last year the only difference is they have another starting quarterback behind him in Justin Fields whereas burrow had Jake Browning so the Steelers are hinging the season not on an injured player in Russell Wilson but hinging it upon Justin Fields who yes has his warts we understand that but is a starting quarterback in the NFL certainly more so than what the the Bengals had last year so this tells me at the very least this is going to be something that maybe he does come back and play I'm not necessarily going to say that and go to that extent but maybe this is something where he isn't going to be 100% at any point this year and even if he does get into start that is still worrisome that he's not going to have that full 100% opportunity with the Steelers in Year One what's up guys it's football season and we've teamed up with DraftKings right now new customers who bet $5 will receive $250 in bonus bets instantly plus you'll receive one month of NFL Plus premium it's hard to think of a better way to celebrate fall weather your favorite Jersey and Sunday touchdowns than with the DraftKings Sportsbook app download the DraftKings app and use our promo code all Steelers that's $250 in bonus bets instantly and one month of NFL Plus premium after betting just $5 stay in the action and use your $250 in bonus bets to bet anytime touchdowns on DraftKings DraftKings is the place to bet touchdowns if sports betting is not yet available in your state don't worry you could still join in on all the fun with DraftKings daily fantasy and have the shot to win cash prizes download the draftking Sportsbook app now new customers use my promo code all Stealers and bet just $5 on any wager and get $250 in bonus bets instantly that's promo code all Steelers only at DraftKings Sportsbook yeah the the way I mean even if they thought he was the guy even if they thought Justin you know didn't wow us enough in week one didn't wow us enough in week two and the Steelers are winning but Justin's not throwing touchdowns and he's not turning the ball over he's not losing games but he's also not winning games for the Steelers you kind of look at it and say there's a chance that the Steelers mindset is that's still better than losing Russ for the season because if you lose Russ for the season you only have Justin you have Justin and Kyle Allen so you really only have Justin where it sits right now Russ might not be 100% but you have him he's available he's there if you need him he's the emergency quarterback so worst case scenario Justin gets hurt you still have a backup Justin doesn't play well you still have a backup I just think that the precautionary side of this the Steelers might be looking at and saying if we didn't have another starting caliber quarterback if we didn't have another guy that we wanted that we weren't intrigued by we wouldn't even worry about this but when you look at it and say well Justin's a guy that intrigues us maybe Justin is the future Justin has a bunch of potential let's not take a risk on losing one one of these guys even if the initial plan was to have two and do it with Russ first well you know got to be light on your feet the plan changes now it's Justin being the starter and this could be equal parts the Pittsburgh Steelers being cautious about the situation as it is Justin Fields impressing enough and them seeing hey look at this could be the future this could be the next guy we have to give him an opportunity I think both things are playing a role here but what I'm getting from Russ is that is for one definitely not playing in Denver I mean I just there's no part of his interview no part of Justin's interview really no part of anybody who spoke today to the media where you sat there and said the door is still open for Russ to play on Sunday and two I think this is going to carry on much longer than we think I don't think I would be shocked if week three is a is a week where unless Justin really struggles against Denver and the Broncos walk away with the win or the Steelers squeak by with a really ugly win then I I would say it's still Justin's game in week three and possibly moving forward I think it's in serious question whether or not Russ actually does start for the Steelers this is the first time I kind of saw maybe the stars are aligning there maybe maybe even Russ is acknowledging it's it's coming to an end here it's not a great situation for him and the Pittsburgh Steelers do you agree yeah and with an older quarterback this is always something that you look at and say all right well how long is it going to take him to recover from that because clearly it's going to take younger quarterbacks and younger players in general a lot less time Russ is 35 years old and albeit a player a 35y old that has been pretty healthy throughout his career he's only missed five starts in 12 years when you deal with something like this and I think macaroni salad said it in the comment section especially uh I mean valid point calf injuries lead to Achilles injuries and we saw it last year with two older quarterbacks and Aaron Rogers and Kirk Cousins the Steelers if if they don't have to be you know hyperactive and trying to get him back onto the field you're GNA take as much time as you can and and right now it seems like they're taking it slow because of Justin Fields being able to get that win and and look pretty good in that win against Atlanta yeah I want to answer this one real quick before we go over to the offensive line if it's serious why was Russell Wilson the emergency quarterback he'll Remain the emergency quarterback so the emergency quarterback is essentially only their worst case scenario if Justin gets hurt if Kyle Allen gets hurt the Steelers could put Russ in he does not have to take up a roster spot on game days so you still have your full 47 man roster I believe it is on Sundays without having to worry about a third quarterback he'd also doesn't even have to suit up that's a Russ decision there for him to suit up so which you know you you could you could say Russ is weird with a lot of things Mason Rudolph also s like he was suiting up last year too it's just something that you're going to do um but it it's it's really just a an extra you are going to take advantage of that situation if you can with the Steelers that's why he's the emergency quarterback there's no reason not to it doesn't impact your roster really in any way