With Russell Wilson still not cleared medically to return to full practice, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday the team is once again preparing to play this Sunday in their home opener against the Chargers with Justin Fields in the lineup at quarterback.
Fields has led the Steelers to a 2-0 start – their first since 2020 – in his first two games, posting a passer rating of 94.4 in place of Wilson.
"We're kind of in the same posture as we were in last week with Russ," Tomlin said Tuesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "As I sit here today, Russ is not scheduled to be a full participant in practice. We're readying a plan that features Justin and his readiness. We'll follow Russ throughout the week. If his participation gets to a level of participation and quality where we should consider him, we'll delve into that at that time. Obviously when that happens is a component of the consideration."
Wilson was named the Steelers' starting quarterback by Tomlin prior to the team's regular season opener in Atlanta Sept. 8. But he aggravated a calf injury that had sidelined him for part of training camp on the Thursday before the game, causing the team to turn to Fields as the starter against the Falcons.
Wilson was listed as a limited participant in practice all of last week, but the Steelers gave Fields all of the first-team snaps during practice leading up to their 13-6 win over Denver last Sunday.
Fields completed 13 of 20 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Broncos, also running for an additional 27 yards.
Even though the Steelers have started 2-0 with both wins coming on the road, Tomlin isn't ready to make any long-term prognostications regarding making Fields the team's starting quarterback.
"I'm not talking hypotheticals," Tomlin said. "We have one of these two guys available to us as I stand here today. It's a waste of my time to speculate, hypotheticals, all of that.
"Justin has a game to get ready for this week. I'm not doing him any justice by talking hypotheticals. I want him focused. I'm focused on the next task. Until Russell gets to a state of readiness where he's a consideration, I won't be speculating on any of that in any way."
The Steelers have relied heavily on their running game in their first two games, with 77 rushing attempts compared to just 43 passes thrown by Fields.
Tomlin said part of the reason for that has been the fact that both of those games have been on the road and the Steelers have had three offensive linemen – center Zach Frazier, guard Spencer Anderson and Troy Fautanu – making their first career starts. Frazier and Anderson did so against Atlanta, while Fautanu was in the lineup for the first time against Denver.
"It's important in September that you avoid third-and-long, particularly if your first two games are on the road," Tomlin said. "We have been really thoughtful and intentional about our approach to business through the first two weeks because of environmental reasons and our lack of collective development, the number of young people we've had in some significant positions, like center and left guard."
Tomlin praises Fautanu: Fautanu, the Steelers' top pick in this year's draft, got the nod to start at right tackle last week over 2023 first-round draft pick Broderick Jones.
The Steelers had planned to rotate Fautanu and Jones at right tackle, with the rookie playing the entire first quarter and Jones playing in the second quarter, but when Jones was penalized three times in a six-play span – including a holding penalty that wiped out a 51-yard pass from Fields to George Pickens – that plan was scrapped. Fautanu replaced Jones after that holding penalty and played the remainder of the game.
"I had intentions of utilizing both guys," Tomlin said. "I acknowledged that Troy was healthy. I acknowledge that Troy was capable. That's why we started him. I rolled him because I had concerns about his level of conditioning. He's a young guy, new to me. He's new to the NFL. I didn't know how fatigue would affect his play in terms of detail. So we tried to ward off some of that.
I had every intention of using Broderick. When Broderick started getting highly penalized in play, I backed off it and I held my breath and played Troy."
Fautanu suffered a sprained knee in the team's preseason opener and missed the next month of practices. He was active for the team's Week 1 game at Atlanta coming off the injury, but Jones started at right tackle.
Tomlin said Fautanu has been too impressive in his time with the Steelers to keep on the bench.
"We were not passive about playing him in the pre-season when he was available. He played a lot," Tomlin said. "Then we had also practices against Buffalo. He's been in some elevated circumstances beyond the practices.
"Some of the things that he's shown us has nothing to do with anything other than pedigree. He's really talented. That is very evident. So we play him."
That said, Tomlin isn't shutting the door on Jones, either. Jones is currently listed on the depth chart as the backup at both right and left tackles.
"'I'm going to give Broderick an opportunity to rebound," Tomlin said. "He's a talented young player. I am sure he suffered some disappointment in terms of Troy starting. It's a natural thing. But he has to move past it and I have to give him an opportunity to move past it as a leader.
"We'll get into this week. We'll let participation be our guide and the quality of participation for both guys be our guide in terms of how we divvy up this week. It's a new week."
However, Tomlin also hasn't been displeased with the work left tackle Dan Moore has produced.
"Dan has been solid. Dan has been Dan," Tomlin said. "Dan is never moved by what's going on around him. There's a maturity to his approach to business. Oftentimes it is reflected in the consistency of his play."
Cleaning things up: The Steelers were penalized 10 times for 78 yards in the win over the Broncos, several of which wiped out big plays offensively, defensively and on special teams. This came one week after the team was penalized 9 times for 60 yards in an 18-10 win at Atlanta.
Some of that is to be expected early in a season. But Tomlin is being proactive in an effort to solve some of the issues.
Typically, the Steelers have officials at practice on Fridays to help players better understand what will and won't be called in a game. This week, they'll have officials at all three of their practices leading up to the game with the Chargers.
"I believe that's appropriate given our last outing in that regard in terms of not playing penalty-free," Tomlin said. "We're not hoping and wishing our issues away, we have to take tangible action, particularly at the early portions of the year where we're laying down some guardrails in terms of what we value, how we go about business, how we take corrective action to improve and increase our chances of winning. It's just part of ball that goes with September. We better be really urgent about it."
Injury update: Not only is Wilson questionable to play this week, but the Steelers came out of last Sunday's game in Denver with three players dealing with injuries that might lead them to be considered questionable.
Linebacker Tyler Matakevich (hamstring), tight end MyCole Pruitt (knee) and wide receiver Ben Skowronek (shoulder) all are dealing with injuries suffered against the Broncos.
Both Pruitt and Skowronek, who has been elevated from the practice squad in each of the past two weeks, are new to the Steelers. Matakevich, re-signed by the team this season, spent the first four seasons of his career with the Steelers before spending the next four seasons with Buffalo.
"As always, we include guys as they're capable of participating in preparation," Tomlin said. "For new and young guys, the sooner that happens, the more consideration they're under. For older guys, we'll give them some latitude as a general practice. We'll see what the week holds for some of those guys in terms of some of their roles.
"A guy like Tyler Matakevich, if he perks up at the end of the week, he is a veteran core team guy that has been with us before. I'll leave a light on for him, for instance."
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Tomlin also said guard Issac Seumalo might be in line to return this week against the Chargers after missing the first two games with a pectoral muscle injury.
Anderson has started the first two games at left guard with Seumalo out.
"Isaac might be closer to return. We won't speculate," Tomlin said. "We'll just simply continue to ready the guys that are available until we get an understanding that he is available. That's oftentimes dictated by the level of participation and the quality of that participation in practice. We'll see what the week holds in terms of him. But he is getting close. It's good to follow his participation during the course of the week."
