Russell Wilson made his debut for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 7. When Mike Tomlin decided to bench Justin Fields in favor of Wilson, many called out the Steelers head coach.
But the veteran quarterback’s performance in the 37-15 win against the New York Jets silenced the critics. In a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show, Wilson talked about dealing with the calf injury that kept him sidelined for the first six weeks of the season.
Russell Wilson Talks About Hardship of Dealing With Calf Injury
Wilson is in his 13th season in the league, and the calf injury caused him to miss the most time of his career. “I had that calf injury pushing a sled which was devastating,” said Wilson.
“I’ve almost played 200 games. I think I only missed five or so my whole career, and that was hard on me. That was different; that was challenging just because I love to practice, I love the games. I’ve never really missed much over all these years, and so for me, it was really important for me just to focus on, number one, getting healthy again…
“I’ve told you all these years, Rich, that I want to play past 40 and be as healthy and be as great as I could possibly be over the years, and I think that a big part is just making sure nothing devastating happened where I couldn’t play a whole season or something.”
Wilson signed a one-year, $1.21 million deal with the Steelers after getting released by the Broncos. Pittsburgh took a gamble, and it paid off. The AFC North franchise now has one of the best quarterback situations in the league.
Fields went 4-2 in the games that he started, and he will be ready to step in if something unfortunate happens to the current starting quarterback. Wilson has the opportunity to redeem his career and legacy after two tough years in Denver.
Steelers’ Offense Looked Dynamic With Wilson
The Steelers scored 37 in the first game with Wilson as their quarterback. This was the first time that the team scored 37 points in a game since Week 11 of the 2021 NFL season when Ben Roethlisberger was still their quarterback.
The Jets were without some key players on defense, but despite that, leading the team to 37 points in your first game back from an injury on a new team was remarkable from the 35-year-old quarterback.
George Pickens had a dominant outing against the Jets. He finished with five receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown on nine targets. Running back Najee Harris capitalized on the available running lanes due to the team’s passing-game effectiveness, as he rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
If Wilson continues to play like he did against the Jets, the Steelers are a legitimate Super Bowl contender. They already have one of the best defenses in the NFL and just need some spark on the offense to dominate this year.
Pittsburgh will face the New York Giants in Week 8, and Wilson will be determined to lead the team to its sixth win of the season before the bye in Week 9.