Steelers’ Russell Wilson’s Long-Term Future Could Be In Jeopardy Due To Injury

The Pittsburgh Steelers were hoping to see what Russell Wilson has left in the tank after he had a couple of underwhelming seasons with the Denver Broncos. However, the team has not been able to properly gauge him, as he has missed a lot of time with a calf injury, and he will be expected to miss even more. What seemed like a very minor injury at first, has become more and more serious as the days go by and the missed practices start stacking up — at least in the eyes of the fans.

At a certain point time, this injury would likely make him lose the starting job to Justin Fields. Not only would that hurt him in the short-term, but that injury could jeopardize the rest of his career. Mike Florio broke down the situation on Pro Football Talk.

Fields had a terrible beginning to training camp, but he has seemingly gotten better with each passing day. He is taking advantage of the all the first-team reps that were expected to go to Wilson, and if he keeps this up, the Steelers may not have a choice but to give him the starting role, especially if Wilson misses more time. This supposedly insignificant injury seems to be derailing all of his plans.

2024 was seen as Wilson’s last chance to prove himself as a starter. This was the perfect way for him to prove that he had a raw deal in Denver. With one head coach that was so underwhelming that he was fired before completing his first season, and another one that didn’t mesh well with him, there were some questions on if Wilson was truly to blame for the team’s failures. If he can’t come back from injury in time, no one may ever know for sure.

Instead, Wilson may be watching his last chance to prove himself as a capable starter vanish into thin air. No one would want to sign a quarterback in his mid-30s that failed to win the starting job to be their starting quarterback. If Fields does end up playing as the full-time starter, Wilson will most likely have to accept a backup role if he wants to stay in the NFL. He previously said that he wants to have a 20-year career, but will that happen?

Steelers Built Offense For Wilson’s Strengths

When Wilson was with the Seattle Seahawks, he thrived when he had a dominant running game to help him out, as well as a couple of high-end receivers to make him comfortable. The Steelers made all kinds of moves to create that identity of running the ball down their opponents’ throats, and George Pickens is a very valuable safety valve if no one is open. Instead, Fields could end up being the benefactor of an offense that doesn’t put a lot of stress on the quarterback position.