QB Russell Wilson slogs through a rusty preseason debut in Steelers’ loss to Bills
PITTSBURGH — Russell Wilson has been playing football for a long time. He's well-versed in the rhythms of a season. The highs and lows and everything in between.
So while Wilson was less than thrilled after his first five series with the Pittsburgh Steelers produced little in a 9-3 preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills on Saturday night, he also was hardly concerned.
Pittsburgh's offense has so many new parts — from offensive coordinator Arthur Smith to a pair of quarterbacks in Wilson and Justin Fields to rookie center Zack Frazier — that it's going to take time to figure things out.
“So there are a lot of good (things) that goes unseen sometimes,” Wilson said. “And there’s some things that we also have to fix and get right. And so that’s the diligence that we have to have.”
There's certainly plenty for the Steelers to work on after another shaky offensive performance, particularly by a line that allowed four sacks and 10 quarterback hits, making it tough for Wilson or Fields to get going.
“We didn’t do a good enough job protecting the quarterback,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “That can’t be a problem for us. We’ve got to be better than we were tonight in that area.”
The 35-year-old Wilson, slowed by a calf injury for much of training camp, completed 8 of 10 passes for 47 yards. He also took three sacks during five scoreless series.
Wilson’s longest completion went for 12 yards, and that was on a little flip to running back Jaylen Warren, who did most of the work on the play. The downfield passing that’s one of the reasons the Steelers took a flyer on the nine-time Pro Bowler never materialized, though George Pickens almost made an acrobatic grab down the sideline in the second quarter.
Fields fared marginally better, finishing 11 of 17 for 92 yards. He also ran for a team-high 42 yards, showcasing the versatility that led the Steelers (0-2) to trade for him in March, though he was also stopped for a loss on a fourth-down run in the third quarter that ended a scoring threat and threw incomplete on fourth down at the Buffalo 20 in the final minutes.
“We got into the red zone a couple of times,” Fields said. “But I think next week we’re just going to have to turn those drives into points.”
Tyler Bass kicked three field goals for the Bills (1-1), who were more engaged against Pittsburgh than during a lifeless loss to Chicago last week, even with Josh Allen watching from the sideline.
Buffalo coach Sean McDermott kept his franchise quarterback out of the lineup following a pregame thunderstorm that made the field slick and forced fans to clear the stands twice.
Mitch Trubisky started and completed 9 of 13 passes for 86 yards while getting booed in the stadium where he played his home games the previous two years. Buffalo ran for 169 yards against a Steelers defense that played without star linebacker T.J. Watt, who was given the night off.
Greg Rousseau had 2 1/2 sacks for the Bills. Undrafted rookie free agent linebacker Joe Andreessen — a Buffalo-area native who played at the University of Buffalo — had 12 tackles to make a case he deserves a longer look, particularly with starter Matt Milano out indefinitely with a torn biceps.
“When a young guy gets an opportunity and he makes the most of it, it’s fun to watch,” McDermott said. “Especially a local guy.”
Steelers: RB Jaylen Warren tweaked his hamstring in the first half and did not return. Rookie LB Payton Wilson exited in the second half with a concussion.
Steelers: At Detroit on Saturday.
