Tomlin: Wilson ‘in consideration’ to start vs. Jets

PITTSBURGH — After proving his health and “knocking the rust off” in practice last week, Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson is “in consideration” to start against the New York Jets on Sunday, coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday.

Tomlin said he would make his choice between Wilson and Justin Fields as the starting quarterback “closer to game time.”

“I got comfortable with his ability to display his health [last week],” Tomlin said of Wilson. “… Now it’s about knocking the rust off. He is in consideration this week. We’ll see where that leads us, man. Both guys at the quarterback position are scheduled to work [Wednesday] and we’ll just walk it day by day. All geared toward putting ourselves in best position to win the football game.”

Tomlin didn’t rule out the possibility of using both quarterbacks in the game Sunday night.

“Certainly there’s a scenario,” Tomlin said. “There could have been a scenario where that could have occurred last week.”

Wilson, 35, completed a full week of practice for the first time since aggravating his training camp injury on Sept. 5, and he was active in the win against the Las Vegas Raiders while Fields recorded his sixth start of the season.

“He proved his ability to protect himself, to move appropriately within the pocket to not be limited schematically in terms of some of the things that we were capable of doing or wanted to do,” Tomlin said of Wilson’s practice performance. “Those things had to happen before we could seriously consider him and his talents, and that happened a week ago.”

Tomlin, who has continued to list Wilson as QB1 on the depth chart throughout the duration of the quarterback’s injury, was vague on the exact plan for the division of labor in practice this week.

“I’m sure at some point,” Tomlin said when asked if Wilson would get first-team practice reps. “But I hadn’t decided who gets the ball first. That sort of minutiae has been undecided.”

The Steelers are 4-2 with Fields as the starting quarterback, including Sunday’s win against the Raiders, when he rushed for two touchdowns. Fields also has five passing touchdowns to just one interception and one fumble, and he has completed a career-high 66.3% of his pass attempts. But his QBR through six games is 54.0, ranking 20th among all quarterbacks, and the Steelers rank 28th in passing yards per game and 20th in points per game.

“Justin has been really good, and we’ve been really good at times, but not to be confused with great,” Tomlin said. “Man, this is a competitive league. We’re trying to position ourselves to be that team, and we got a player with talent who hadn’t had an opportunity to play, so we’re going to potentially explore those things.

“Sometimes it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with what Justin has done or has not done. Justin has been an asset to us. Last week, for example, his ability to utilize his legs by design and by ad-lib was a significant component of that game. He rushed 50-plus yards and two touchdowns in game and so we’re appreciative of that. We’re appreciative of how he’s taking care of the ball, but we’re just looking at all the people at our disposal the same way that we do at any position.”

Fields ranks fourth among quarterbacks in rushing yards (231) and is No. 1 with five rushing TDs through six games — the most in a single season by a Steelers quarterback since Kordell Stewart recorded five in 2001.

Asked if Wilson had the same capability to use his legs like Fields, Tomlin was blunt.

“No, he does not,” Tomlin said. “Justin’s legs are an X factor.”

So how could the offense change with Wilson at quarterback?

“It remains to be seen,” Tomlin said, “and I think that’s one of the cute things about this discussion.”