Steelers make it all but official as Russell Wilson readies to start vs Jets
PITTSBURGH — After three days of work in which he intended to "roll the ball out" for his top two quarterbacks, Mike Tomlin declined to announce after Friday's practice that the ball is rolling back to Russell Wilson.
But No. 1 wide receiver George Pickens apparently didn't get the memo that the head coach wanted to keep his decision in-house. Pickens talked after practice and put it in plain English for reporters he'll have a new quarterback looking for him Sunday night.
"[We're] getting on the same page after practice throwing — more than usual because, you know, this is his first start," Pickens said Friday.
Wilson is set to replace Justin Fields as the starter against the Jets at Acrisure Stadium, which is where this situation has been headed since Tuesday at the very least. But Tomlin played coy all the way through the final session of the week.
While Tomlin didn't want to detail the allocation of snaps between the first and second units, it's reasonable to assume Wilson has taken the vast majority of reps, if not all, with the starting offense. That's how you prepare a quarterback to play in the NFL, particularly one who hasn't been in a live situation since the preseason and could have some rust when he does return against the league's third-stingiest defense in yards allowed per play.
Wilson faced the Jets last season and threw for 196 yards and two touchdowns without an interception on 20-of-31 passing. But he was sacked four times, lost one of two fumbles and his Broncos fell at home 31-21. He also was called for intentional grounding in his own end zone, which gave the Jets two points off a safety in the first quarter.
