Russell Wilson with the Steelers already seems weird

If new Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson is going to revive his career back to the levels he reached with the Seattle Seahawks, it’s going to have to wait.

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Surprise, surprise – things already seem weird with Mr. Unlimited in the Steel City.

Wilson is technically the Steelers’ starting quarterback for this season, as the nine-time Pro Bowler won a battle against Justin Fields in training camp and preseason for the gig. Only it’s Fields who is preparing to start for a second straight week to begin the season.

Why? Wilson is dealing with a calf injury. That’s not all that weird on its own, but the 35-year-old Wilson has had this calf injury since a conditioning test he underwent when he reported in July to Pittsburgh’s training camp, so it didn’t stop him from playing in the last two of the Steelers’ three preseason games.

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According to The Associated Press, Wilson aggravated the injury last week Thursday, saying he “felt a little funny” in individual drills, prompting head coach Mike Tomlin to hold him out of the team portion of that practice. Wilson then sat out the Steelers’ Friday practice and was on the inactive list for Sunday’s opener against Atlanta, though he completely dressed for the game and went through pregame warmups as he was considered Pittsburgh’s emergency QB.

Next up for the Steelers, however, is a game that Wilson must have circled on his calendar. On Sunday, they go to Denver to play the Broncos team that cut Wilson loose after just two seasons only six months ago. Surely Wilson would like to have the chance to beat Broncos coach Sean Payton and his new QB, rookie Bo Nix, in his debut for his new team, right?

Well, it’s a nice thought, but Steelers coach Mike Tomlin doesn’t seem in a hurry to start his starting quarterback, even with that juicy storyline just sitting there.

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“As I sit here today, we’re preparing as if Justin is going to be our quarterback,” Tomlin said on Tuesday, per NFL.com. “I think that’s the appropriate way to do it. Speculation is a waste of time. Russell’s hurt. He’s not available to us. So, as you guys know as a general practice, I focus my energy on those that are available and their readiness.”

Tomlin isn’t ruling out Wilson to play Sunday, but these comments don’t really make him sound like someone who is desperate to get the No. 1 guy on the depth chart back this week.

“I just visited with him. He feels better today than he did over the weekend,” Tomlin said of Wilson. “What that means, I don’t know as we sit here today. I know that we’re going to take the same approach that we take with a lot of people in terms of injury. We’ll first start with his participation and his level of participation, his quality of participation. Over the course of the week, we’ll be analyzing whether he’s capable of protecting himself, whether he’s capable of being productive. When we get to those points, that’s when we’ll ponder his inclusion or not, and when that happens, it will probably be a component of that equation.”

By the way, Fields led Pittsburgh to an 18-10 win in Week 1 over Kirk Cousins and the Falcons, though every single point by the Steelers was scored on a field goal.

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