The Pittsburgh Steelers have been without their projected starting quarterback over the first four practices of training camp after Russell Wilson suffered a calf injury on the day he reported.
Initially, it wasn't clear how Wilson suffered the calf injury, but he revealed to the media that it happened after he pushed a sled during the team's conditioning test last Wednesday.
"We were doing a sled-push thing and just tweaked it a little bit," Wilson said, per ESPN's Brooke Pryor. "... It was the fourth, fifth time we did the sled push, I felt a little something. ... I feel good. It's nothing to panic about or to worry about at all."
Thankfully, Wilson is going to be fine, and he is making progress in his quest to get on the practice field. But it's hard to ignore how easily avoidable this was.
That's something Mark Madden of TribLive.com touched on recently. Not only did he ask very valid questions about the need for Wilson to have to do that, he also suggests that it could be a fireable offense.
"What’s gained by making a 35-year-old QB push a blocking sled? How much blocking will Wilson have to do?" Madden wrote, before later adding, "Making Wilson push a blocking sled is abject stupidity on the part of Phil Matusz, the Steelers’ new strength and conditioning coach. It’s not a stretch to say Matusz should be fired for such idiocy."
Madden wasn't the only one to question the logic of having Wilson push a sled. Fellow media and fans alike were puzzled, also.
Dumb with a capital “D” that Russell Wilson is missing practices because of a sled push drill. Why the frig is a QB doing that? He ain’t Darnell Washington. Every day counts in new offense. With young players. Ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/YLhVF03roT
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) July 28, 2024
Why in God’s name would Russell Wilson even THINK about pushing a lineman’s sled at ANY time if a season. This is just pure stupidity. And why would ANY coach let him. Man. https://t.co/2eniB0FaeT
— Ed Thompson (@ThompsonFoto12) July 26, 2024
While we're not out to call for anyone's job here, Madden raises very valid questions about the situation. There simply was no need to have Wilson do that. After all, he won't be working in the trenches, he has offensive linemen for that.
Now, Wilson may have very well been a fully willing participant, but at the end of the day he's going to do what he's told and it's up to the coaches to make sure he doesn't do anything to put himself in harm's way.
According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Steelers aren't concerned about Wilson's injury and he'll return this week.
Head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters on Sunday that Wilson is expected to take part in team periods on Tuesday, when the team throws the pads on for the first time. So, it appears the Steelers have dodged a bullet... for now.
