Steelers choose Russell Wilson instead of Justin Fields as starting quarterback

PITTSBURGH – Russell Wilson will start at quarterback in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ season opener at Atlanta, coach Mike Tomlin announced Wednesday.

Wilson, who signed a one-year deal with the Steelers in March, entered the offseason in “pole position” for the starting job, according to Tomlin. He kept the spot despite a calf injury that sidelined him for most of the Steelers’ training camp.

Justin Fields, whom the Steelers acquired from the Chicago Bears in March in a trade for a conditional sixth-round pick, will back up Wilson.

Meanwhile, the status of one of the players who would guard Wilson in Week 1 could be in question. Steelers starter Isaac Seumalo left practice on Monday with an apparent chest injury and is currently being examined to determine the severity of the injury, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Although Tomlin said the two competed for the job throughout the preseason, Wilson always seemed to have the edge, including in the final preseason game when he only played in five snaps and led the first-team offense to a scoring drive before being subbed out.

Fields played 56 snaps in the preseason, Wilson 25. Fields completed 19 of 27 attempts for 199 yards and led one scoring drive, while Wilson completed 10 of 12 attempts for 73 yards and led one scoring drive. Fields averaged 8.3 air yards per attempt, Wilson averaged 5.7.

Wilson last started a game in Week 16 of the 2023 season for the Denver Broncos, the Steelers’ Week 2 opponent, before being benched for Jarrett Stidham for the final two weeks of the season.

Wilson, a nine-time Pro Bowl player and Super Bowl winner with the Seattle Seahawks, finished the season with 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions but was sacked 45 times. Fields, on the other hand, started 13 games for the Bears last season. He threw 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions and was sacked 44 times.