It’s not often Pittsburgh Steelers fans agree with Mark Madden, but with the Russell Wilson injury situation, this is easily one of those times.
As Wilson missed his fourth consecutive practice on Sunday, let’s revisit how he got here.
Following a Wilson-less first practice on Thursday, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin explained that his quarterback woke up with calf tightness and he was withholding him from practice as a precaution. The following day, however, Wilson revealed he’d hurt it early on day one during a conditioning drill — specifically on the sled push.
TribLive’s Mark Madden had this to spout about the source of Wilson’s calf injury:
What’s gained by making a 35-year-old QB push a blocking sled? How much blocking will Wilson have to do?
That thought popped up in the heads of every Steelers fan after hearing why Wilson was being held out of practice.
Why in the world was Russell Wilson pushing a sled?!
If the Steelers are going to be any good this season, Wilson will have to stand in the pocket and deliver dimes (to everyone besides George Pickens because he’ll be triple-covered) or scramble as quickly as a 35-year-old quarterback can. He won’t be blocking, and, on the unfortunate occasion he needs to, pushing a sled in practice won’t be the reason he fails or succeeds.
According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Wilson is expected to start practicing this week. The Steelers return to Chuck Noll Field on Tuesday.
