After playing about 20 snaps in his first preseason action last weekend against the Buffalo Bills, Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson is looking forward to getting back onto the field Saturday when the team closes out its preseason at Detroit.
Wilson said he expects to play along with the rest of the Steelers' starters against Detroit, and is looking forward to putting a better showing on display than the offense has in its first two preseason outings.
"We're all playing," Wilson said Wednesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "I'm excited. I'm excited to get back on the field. You know what? Last week was great to be out there for the first time, putting pads on and everything else, and obviously we didn't get the win and everything else. But I think the big thing for us is just executing and us making our plays and doing our thing."
The first-team offense has yet to generate any points in eight preseason possessions. With Wilson sitting out the preseason opener against Houston with a calf injury he suffered during the team's conditioning drills on the opening day of training camp, Justin Fields started. And while the offense moved the ball, snap issues led to the offense bogging down in two of three series.
Last week against the Bills, penalties and sacks led to the Steelers being in several third-and-long situations with Wilson leading the offense.
With a new offensive coordinator in Arthur Smith and all-new quarterback room with Wilson, Fields and third-string quarterback Kyle Allen, there were bound to be some growing pains.
But Wilson, a 13-year veteran, said he takes solace in the fact things have gone more smoothly in the team's practices.
He's not panicking over a handful of possessions in football games that don't count in the standings.
"First of all, it's preseason, and I think that there's always highs," Wilson said. "There's some things that we've done really well, there's some things that we need to be better at. That's the part of playing. It's part of the fun about the preseason. You learn things and you translate that to the practice field as well. We'd be concerned if we hadn't had the level of practices we've had against one of the best defenses every day and how we've shown up there. So I think the best thing that we can do is, just slow our minds down, play really clean football."
Wilson completed 8 of 10 passes for 47 yards against the Bills, but protection breakdowns led to him being sacked three times.
He also checked down to underneath passes on third-and-long passes to Pat Freiermuth and Jaylen Warren, coming up just short of the first down on both occasions.
Wilson said not to read too much into those plays.
"We had guys running past the sticks and all of that," Wilson said. "The problem is when they know that's happening, it's third-and-15. It's pretty easy on the defense. They just kind of sit there. You've got to check it down. And we almost got a couple.
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"We could go looking to drive the ball in there, but sometimes you don't want to force a turnover, especially when it's early in the game. If it's the fourth quarter, if it's the last play of the game, then, yeah, you got to thread a needle. But early in the game, it's about field position. It's about moving the sticks and trying to find a way to get a first down. We got talented guys. You have got to trust the guys you have around you. We got a guy like Jalen Warren, who's one of the top, you know, missed tackle guys, you know. You give them the football. He makes plays. So you just trust your reads, trust your time and do that."
It's all part of the process as Wilson learns about his new teammates and their capabilities within the offense while also learning a new offense himself.
That's why he is so happy to be getting another opportunity to get additional playing time before the Steelers play their regular season opener Sept. 8 in Atlanta.
"We have got to play cleaner football in a way that'll give us a better chance to find that rhythm, make those plays," Wilson said. "We have guys that are working their tails off every day. So I'm excited about this week. We're focused on this week, not last we're focused on today's practice, not yesterday's and I think that's the best thing we can do."
