Steelers’ Russell Wilson quickly removed himself after scoring the drive

Russell Wilson led a scoring drive during his sole play in the preseason final Then Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin said after a 24-17 defeat against the Detroit Lions on Saturday that the Steelers “just needed results that are indicative of how we’ve worked.”

By Brooke Pryor

Aug 24, 2024 10:49 PM

 

DETROIT — Coach Mike Tomlin needed to see just five snaps from Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers ‘ first-team offense in the preseason finale Saturday.

Although the Steelers fell short 24-17 against the Detroit Lions, Wilson’s team scored their first preseason touchdown during the quarterback’s only game. Then, Tomlin pulled Wilson in favor of Justin Fields, who played in three games and scored a touchdown that he led behind the offensive line of the first team.

“We just needed results that are indicative of how we’ve worked,” Tomlin explained of his decision to eliminate Wilson after a single series. “And so they were able to put together a score and drive and really just provided an opportunity to get Justin in there sooner, and so that’s why we did it.”

After Fields was removed and was replaced by the backups Kyle Allen and John Rhys Plumlee played the remainder of the game, which was for more than two-and-a-half minutes. Although the preseason game has been completed, Tomlin said he will wait until he can officially announce a quarterback to start the season, but Wilson’s limited participation on Saturday and his “pole position” to start the preseason suggest he’s the leading candidate. The Steelers are among two teams, as well as their counterparts, the New England Patriots which are still waiting to announce the Week 1 quarterback.

“We’ll make a decision at the end of our work week,” Tomlin stated. “This coming week, we’ll get three full days Steelers against. Steelers work and why not play it?

“It reduces the Steelers and Steelers work, when we began making decisions before the end of the work. There’s plenty of time to get ready for Atlanta and make any necessary decisions or announcements we need to make regarding divisional labor or pecking order and the like, and we’ll take it up after the week.”

In his final preseason appearance, Wilson needed just five minutes to lead his team to the finish zone. He completed two passes for 26 yards. This included a 32-yard touchdown pass for George Pickens on the third-and-11, after the earlier throw to the receiver led to losing 6 yards. A couple of plays later the wide receiver/running back Cordarrelle Patterson was in the end zone when he sped up the middle for a 31 yard touchdown, opening his lanes up thanks to quick blocks from the rookie center Zach Frazier and left guard Isaac Seumalo.

“Last week we just didn’t stay on schedule, and this time we did,” Wilson declared. “I think another part of it, too, was I told you guys earlier in the week, the best part is to be able to celebrate the end zone with your teammates. I mean that’s what this game’s all about, man, just to be able to get in there and do that. So we got a lot more work to do and we got to keep our heads down and keep going.”

Wilson participated in five series last week, but the team didn’t score any points The team scored only three thirds of the down. Coordinator of offensive plays Arthur Smith also said afterward that he made deliberate plays he called for Wilson in particular, limiting his running time in order to safeguard the quarterback’s injury to his calf. However, this time, Wilson said he had less restrictions.

“I think that we were trying to be strategic last week,” the coach said. “It was kind of like, okay, the doctors let me play last week and I wanted to play in front of our fans, put the black jersey on and just be out there and be out there with my teammates. And so I think this week obviously to be able to come on the road, our first two games are on the road to be able to do the silent count cadence and do all the things that we need to do to get to the end zone.”

As Fields took over to replace Wilson following the first drive, the offensive line remained in game for just one period.

“Because I just wanted to put some people around him that could protect him,” Tomlin stated, describing the reason for keeping his offensive line’s starters on the field.

“That’s appropriate. You can tell I was nervous after we parted ways from one of the groups, and I pushed the guy out of there.”

Behind the starting players, Fields and the offense comprised mainly of second-team talent players like Scotty Miller and La’Mical Perine, constructed a six-play three-minute scoring run that was capped off by the Perine touchdown. Fields made contact to Van Jefferson for five yards in the opening game of the drive and then two plays later, he smashed the tight end MyCole Pruitt for a 22-yard play-action catch across the middle to set the team at the 2 yard line.

It wasn’t all that pretty for Fields However. Fields had a second fumbled play with the center and Zach Frazier, who was on third down in the second game of his series. Then he concluded the third game by taking another sack.

“They did all right, but there’s also room to grow,” Fields stated regarding the line of offensive play. “So just going to look at the mistakes that we had and what plays we could have done better on and get better.”

However, Tomlin expressed satisfaction with the overall work during their final opportunity to present their case for start.

“They both moved the ball,” Tomlin stated. “They won possession downs. They were able to put the ball in the end zone. Things that we hadn’t done to this point sufficiently enough in the preseason.”

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