Russell Wilson is officially returning to Denver.
The Steelers quarterback, questionable for Sunday’s game against the Broncos with a calf injury, has made the trip to Colorado.
Often, players listed as questionable won’t make the trip for a road game, with the team instead downgrading the player to out.
Wilson also flew to Atlanta last week. He ultimately was the third quarterback on game day. Some who saw him in uniform asked a fairly obvious question. If he’s healthy enough to dress, how is he not healthy enough to play?
The Steelers might just be placating him, to an extent. Allowing him to go through the motions of preparing for a game. Allowing him to wear the uniform. Not allowing him to play.
Wilson surely thinks he can play through his aggravated calf strain. For the Steelers, the immediate question is whether Wilson at less than 100 percent provides a better option for victory than a healthy Justin Fields. The longer-term concern comes from the possibility that, while playing, Wilson will aggravate the calf again.
Through it all, the Steelers get a chance to develop and evaluate Fields. He’s clearly the better long-term option, since he’s significantly younger than Wilson. And if Fields struggles in the short term, he wouldn’t be benched, per se. Wilson would be declared to be healthy, and Fields would return to his official QB2 status.
If the Steelers win with Fields, that’s when it could get awkward. Wilson didn’t take the veteran minimum of $1.2 million from the Steelers to stand on the sidelines. At some point, he’ll get frustrated. At some point, someone close to Wilson might start leaking fuel for Sunday Splash! reports. Possibly with the goal of getting Wilson traded to a place where he’d have a chance to play.
That point could come sooner than later, especially as he goes back to see the Broncos. Especially when that team will pay him nearly $37 million this year, simply to go away.