The Pittsburgh Steelers have lost each of their last two games, which has led many to believe that the team could possibly make the switch from Justin Fields to Russell Wilson if the latter is healthy enough to play.
While it remains to be seen if Wilson will be active in Week 6 against the Las Vegas Raiders, he is trending in that direction. Head coach Mike Tomlin revealed on Tuesday that the veteran signal-caller will be a full participant in practice on Wednesday, marking the first time he's been able to do that since Sept. 4.
But Tomlin added, as he has in past weeks, that Fields is preparing to start and even went as far as to say that Wilson will work with the second-team offense so Fields' preparation isn't interrupted.
However, Tomlin didn't completely close the door on the idea that Wilson could start. According to Mike DeFabo of The Athletic, the Steelers head coach called the possibility of Wilson starting a "hypothetical conversation" until the quarterback proves he's fully healthy.
“Until Russ gets to a point where we're comfortable with what we're looking at, he's able to execute all schematics, he’s able to put together back-to-back consecutive days and so forth, I just think that's a hypothetical conversation.”
Tomlin added that Wilson's ability to prove he's healthy isn't the only factor that will be taken into consideration to determine if he's active, whether that be as a starter or backup.
“We’ll see where that leads us,” Tomlin said of Wilson's expected increased work. “First, we’ll see if he’s able to pull it off and get through the sessions. If he does, what does the quality of that work look like? His ability to protect himself, etc.”
“The fact that he is a full participant is a door that’s ajar,” Tomlin said of Wilson's chances of at least being the No. 2 on Sunday. “But to say any more than that is to speculate, because he’s got to get through the day. He’s got to show up on Thursday and see where the roads lead us in terms of that."
Clearly we shouldn't close the door on Wilson starting in Week 6, but for now it looks like Fields will get the nod. That said, even if Wilson serves as the backup, we could see him enter the game on Sunday if Fields falters.
