If you were holding onto even a shred of hope that there was a quarterback battle with the Pittsburgh Steelers, it only took about five minutes of this week’s preseason game against the Detroit Lions to crush those hopes and dreams.
Starting quarterback Russell Wilson played only one series against the Lions, leading the team to a touchdown before exiting in favor of Justin Fields.
If there was any sort of quarterback position battle going on, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin would have wanted a longer look at Wilson to compare him to fields. But pulling him so soon just cements the fact that Wilson has been the starter since the day he signed and nothing he or Fields has done since has changed a thing.
This has to be a tough pill for Fields to swallow. He’s made it clear since the Steelers traded for him that he was coming in to compete for the starting job. Was he sold a bill of goods by Tomlin? Will the team have some sort of role for him on offense and does Fields even want that?