“Russell Wilson is officially the Steelers’ starting quarterback.” But not literally! Well, every Wilson fan wants to see the quarterback debuting his Pittsburgh career in the 2024 regular season. However, as he is currently dealing with a calf injury, coach Mike Tomlin has sidelined him for a couple of weeks, despite keeping him in the QB1 position in the depth chart.

So now, although Wilson is the starter of the franchise on paper, the 52-year-old HC has shown his full faith in his second QB, Justin Fields. He officially made a statement this Tuesday, via Steelers.com, “the team is once again preparing to play this Sunday in their home opener against the Chargers with Justin Fields in the lineup at quarterback.” But according to Mike Florio, Tomlin is using Russell Wilson’s calf aggravation to defend his statement for Fields, which appears something similar to that of the 1998 occurrence.

Mike Tomlin is only focused on wins and not quarterbacks?

As it is said, the coaches go with the players who give them productive results. For Mike Tomlin, it looks the same, and according to Mike Florio on his Sunday Night Football show on September 18, 2024, “It’s a very Mike Tomlin way of invoking the 100% rule.” This means, Tomlin won’t put Wilson back in until he is fully healthy. Hence, this works well as a defender for Justin Fields and the team because they can keep him going as long as he’s playing well.

Now, does this theory remind you of something? Well, it did for the sports commentator who expressed, “It reminds me of the ‘98 Vikings where Brad Johnson broke his leg week two, Randall Cunningham comes in better than he ever was or at least as good as he ever was after he’d been out of football for a year and Dennis Green started talking about the 100% rule and at some point we just forgot about the 100% rule because they were winning every week and that’s kind of what could happen with the Steelers.” As Russell Wilson is out and not 100% healthy, the Steelers and Tomlin are settling with the fact that Fields is there for them.

And why shouldn’t they? The young quarterback is giving them the results they wanted, by winning two consecutive games in two weeks. So, does that mean, Wilson ain’t getting his chance with Pittsburgh again, especially if Fields wins his third game too?

Russell Wilson could get another chance only on one condition

Although it’s Justin Fields’ moment for now, as per NFL rumors, Russell Wilson could get another chance with the Steelers soon. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, “I could be in the minority here, but based on the talks I’ve had with people inside and outside the organization, my sense is that Wilson’s stronger command of the offense will give him another s–ot (chance) once ready.” This means Wilson might be coming off in a Week 4 game, and the chances of it will increase if Fields’ led Steelers lose to the Chargers in Week 3.

Flower also expressed, “If Fields goes 3-0, I don’t see a scenario in which Tomlin makes an immediate move to Wilson, who’s lack of reps dating to late–July is working against him. But I also don’t see a scenario in which Wilson doesn’t play at all this season, either.” But what if it happens? Well, in that case, the veteran quarterback might have to switch his team to a place where he is actually needed.

Until then, Russell Wilson is stuck in two conditions: one – he has to recover soon as he hasn’t been into practice since September 5, and two – Fields will have to lose a couple of upcoming games to pave the way for Mr. Unlimited!

With that being said, do check out our latest Think Tank exclusive interview with Doug Sanders. It’s packed with insights on the current NFL season, college football, NIL, and much more.