Russell Wilson and Justin Fields get one final dress rehearsal Saturday at Detroit to make a case to be the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Head coach Mike Tomlin suggested Wilson was in “pole position” entering training camp, but a calf injury limited his participation and opened the door for Fields to take most of the first-team snaps.
They each played five offensive series last week against the Bills and Tomlin wants to see both on the field this week before determining a pecking order at the position for the Week 1 visit to the Atlanta Falcons.
“I’m in the mindset that it’s a dry rehearsal, man. I want to see the fruit of the labor that I’ve seen out here on the practice field,” Tomlin said of what he wants to see from the offense this week. “We’ve had some really awesome practice days and shown really good consistency and fundamentals and splash-play ability, but I haven’t seen it in stadium yet. In a perfect world, I’d like to see that in the stadium before I move on to provide reps for some other guys that are trying to get a job for themselves.”
Tomlin said Fields has shown “a really high floor with splash plays” on the practice field. If the same traits are evident this week, Tomlin could face a more difficult decision than he once thought.
“I want to see him show some of the things that we’ve seen out here in the practice setting,” Tomlin said of Fields.
Fields had two weeks in the preseason to operate with the starters before Wilson returned to split the starter reps in practice.
“I think I’ve shown what I can do,” Fields said. “I think the time that I did have with the (first team) practicing in training camp, I think that went well. … But at the end of the day, it’s not up to me.”
