Steelers’ Russell Wilson immediately backs down after a scoring drive

Detroit – Coach Mike Tomlin only needed to watch five snaps Russell Wilson and this Pittsburgh Steelers‘The first-team attack will kick off in the final match of pre-season on Saturday.

Although the Steelers lost the game 24-17 till Detroit LionsWilson’s unit scored its first touchdown of the preseason on the quarterback’s only series. After that, Tomlin put Wilson in his favor Justin Fieldswho played three series and led his own scoring drives behind the first-team offensive line.

“We just wanted results that reflected how we did,” Tomlin said of his decision to remove Wilson after one series. “And so they were able to score and drive and really provide an opportunity to get Justin out there as quickly as possible, and so we did that.”

After you exit the field, perform a backup kyle allen And John Rhys Plumley played more than two and a half quarters, finishing the game. Although preseason game action is complete, Tomlin said he will wait to officially name a starting quarterback, though Wilson’s limited action on Saturday and “pole position” to start the preseason suggests he is the heavy favorite. The Steelers are one of two teams, as well new England PatriotsWho has yet to name a Week 1 starter.

“We’ll make a decision at the end of our work week,” Tomlin said. “We have three days of work this coming week vs. the Steelers and why not do it then?

“When we started making decisions before it was even done, that cut down on the work for Steelers vs. Steelers. We have plenty of time to prepare for Atlanta and make whatever decisions or announcements we need to make about divisional labor or pecking order, etc., and so we’ll do that at the end of the work week.”

In his final preseason outing, Wilson needed only five plays to lead the offense to the end zone. The quarterback completed both pass attempts for 26 yards, including a 32-yard completion to George Pickens The previous pass to the wide receiver on third-and-11 resulted in a loss of 6 yards. Two plays after that, the running back/wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson He found the end zone, running 31 yards up the middle for a touchdown, his route opened up thanks to timely blocks by the new center Zach Frazier and left guard isaac seumalo,

“Last week we didn’t get on schedule and this time we did,” Wilson said. “I think another aspect of it is I told you guys at the beginning of the week the best part is being able to celebrate in the end zone with your teammates. I mean that’s what this game is all about, just getting out there and doing that. So we’ve got a lot more work to do and we’ve got to keep our heads down and keep moving forward.”

Wilson played five series the week before, but the team failed to put any points on the board, and Wilson’s group converted only one third down. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith also said later that he had been intentional in his play calls for Wilson, specifically limiting the amount of running to protect the quarterback’s calf injury. This time, however, Wilson said he had fewer restrictions.

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

Although Fields replaced Wilson after the opening drive, the first-team offensive line remained in the game for one series.

“Because I wanted to have some guys around him that could protect him,” Tomlin said, explaining the decision to keep his offensive line starters in the game.

“That’s fair. You could see I was nervous when we walked past those groups, and I got him out of there.”

Working behind the starting players, fields and attack are primarily made up of second team skill players e.g. scotty miller And La’Michael PerineA six-play, three-minute scoring drive ensued, which included a Perine touchdown. Van Jefferson for a 5-yard gain on the first play of the drive, and two plays later, he hit tight end michael pruitt for a 22-yard play-action pass over the middle to set up the unit at the 2-yard line.

It wasn’t all good for Fields, though. He had another bad exchange with the center, this time with Zach Frazier on third down on his second series. And he finished the third series with another sack.

“They did everything right, but there’s still room to grow,” Fields said of the offensive line. “So we’re just going to look at the mistakes we made and what games we could have played better and executed better.”

Still, Tomlin said he was pleased with the overall performance of his quarterbacks, as this was their final opportunity to stake their claim for the starting job.

“They both moved the ball,” Tomlin said. “They kept possession of the ball. They were able to put the ball in the end zone. Things we hadn’t done enough of so far in the preseason.”