Pittsburgh

Steelers

That’s as long as Fields can “make routine — and splash — plays consistently.” It’s just the latest report that Fields is running with the first-team opening created by Russell Wilson’s supposedly minor calf injury. With an aging, declining Wilson struggling to get on the field, Fields is predictably tantalizing with his big-play ability. As Pryor alludes to, he now needs to prove he has actually improved in the more routine aspects of quarterbacking. The reality is, for however flawed Fields is, Wilson is the kind of player teams can find reasons to bench.

Golden spent all of last season with the Steelers, appearing in 16 games while totaling 20 tackles, six TFLs, and four sacks. The veteran linebacker is entering his 10th year in the league and is likely being brought on to play a role similar to last season. Golden didn’t start a game for the Steelers in 2023, playing on just 230 defensive snaps as a role player. This doesn’t look like anything more than a depth signing at this time.

Wilson suffered the ankle injury in Tuesday’s practice. Initially, Mike Tomlin was noncommittal about how much time Wilson would miss, but now it appears that the ankle injury is not severe. Fowler reports that he could “miss some time”, but ultimately is classified as week-to-week. This is good news for fantasy managers hoping to see the third-round rookie perform this year, though it will be difficult for him to see a large number of targets in Arthur Smith’s offense this season.

The rookie’s injury is being evaluated by the team’s trainers. Head coach Mike Tomlin was noncommittal when asked how much time Wilson could miss. Wilson is reportedly behind Calvin Austin in the team’s wide receiver pecking order. A lengthy absence won’t help matters for the rookie, who only has an outside shot to become a Steelers starter in 2024.

Wilson has been sidelined early in camp with a calf injury that he suffered on the first day of practice. This has resulted in the Steelers getting an extended look at Fields taking snaps with the starters which could intensify a quarterback competition that Wilson was thought to be a lock to win entering camp. Throughout the offseason, Wilson took nearly every first-team rep while Fields worked with the backups. Graziano adds that “when [the Steelers] say it’s an open competition and Fields has a chance, believe them.” Wilson is expected to return to practice sometime this week. It’s possible he’ll do enough to separate himself from Fields once he gets a few days of padded practice in. With that said, the Steelers are desperate to solve a quarterback problem that has plagued them since Ben Roethlisberger retired. They aren’t financially committed to either quarterback beyond this season and will likely start both at some point in the year.

Tomlin said on Thursday that Wilson was “day-to-day” after waking up with a sore calf. The veteran quarterback didn’t practice on Friday, but Tomlin said that was done “to keep a minor thing from becoming major.” Speaking with the media after practice, Wilson said if this were a game-day situation, he’d be able to play. With Wilson sitting, Justin Fields once again took the snaps with the first-team offense. The Steelers aren’t going to rush Wilson on the field, but given what we know, we’d expect to see him out there in the near future

Fields got a surprise day of first-team reps after Russell Wilson woke up with a minor calf injury on Thursday, but Kaboly reports it was marked by ups and downs. He called it a performance that “pretty much duplicated what we saw at OTAs and minicamp a few months back.” Wilson is in inarguable decline, but this has been the steady drumbeat on Fields’ practice reports. It doesn’t appear that Fields has a legitimate chance to claim the starting job in camp, though we’ll see how far Mike Tomlin’s Wilson tolerance goes. It went fast for Sean Payton after Pete Carroll had seen enough in Seattle.

Holcomb suffered a devastating knee injury in Week 9 of last season, ending his 2023 campaign. It’s no surprise to see him open camp on the PUP list, given the nature of his injury, but we don’t have a firm timeline on when we can expect him to return. Speaking earlier in the week, head coach Mike Tomlin said he thinks Holcomb will participate in camp sooner than later, leaving the door open for a return in a few weeks. In addition to Holcomb, the Steelers also placed EDGE Dean Lowry, whose 2023 was ended by a pectoral injury.

Rumors surfaced throughout the offseason that the Broncos’ Courtland Sutton or the 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk could be trade targets for the Steelers. As of now, neither appears to be on the move to the Steel City, especially with Sutton recently restructuring his contract for the 2024 season to remain in Denver. George Pickens is expected to lead the Steelers’ wide receiver room this season with Diontae Johnson now in Carolina, but the group is relatively thin beyond that. Van Jefferson, who the team signed this offseason, caught 20 passes for 209 scoreless yards last year while splitting time between the Rams and Falcons, and rookie third-rounder Roman Wilson will likely need time to adjust to the pro game. It’s possible the Steelers reconsider a trade for a receiver after getting a better look at their guys in camp, but this is a team that has seldom bent the knee to receivers seeking lucrative deals — which is important when considering the possibility of a trade for Aiyuk.

According to Tomlin, Wilson woke up with the injury and was kept out of practice as a result. Justin Fields took all of the first-team reps with the offense in Wilson’s absence, but Wilson should be back in his role as QB1 in short order. Offseason reports have long suggested that Wilson is outplaying Fields, who is presumably competing with him for the starting job in camp. Wilson was present at practice and watching from the sidelines as his teammates ran through drills. It doesn’t sound like this is anything to be overly concerned about for the time being.