When is the last time Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin openly spoke about moving on from a rookie? Roman Wilson and questions about his gameday availability appear to be a thorn in the sides of Tomlin and Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith, as both have seemingly alluded to the rookie’s availability as vaguely as humanly possible.
It was confirmed last week that Wilson’s hamstring injury was not the reason he was held out of Week 7’s contest, but rather that he didn’t prove himself enough to Tomlin. That seems to be the big question: what exactly does the rookie third-rounder need to do?
Wilson will also miss Week 8’s Monday Night Football game against the New York Giants with the supposed hamstring ‘injury,’ but those who have seen the rookie in practice have stated that Wilson looks like he is the definitive WR2 for the offense.
Kaboly on 93.7 on Roman Wilson: “Roman Wilson, every time I see him in practice, he looks fabulous. I mean, I don’t know what’s happening behind closed doors. I don’t know if it’s not in the book, the playbook. I don’t know if he’s limited in what he can run route-wise, but…
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) October 23, 2024
In Wilson’s debut game, the rookie was only used on five snaps, with zero targets and zero receptions to show for it. It is clear that Tomlin is either seeing something that everyone else isn’t, or the rookie wide receiver has ruffled the feathers of his head coach in some way.