Russell Wilson's Calf Injury Not Serious; Got Hurt During Steelers Conditioning Test

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin provided an update on Russell Wilson's calf injury that prevented the quarterback from taking the field during the past two practices.

Tomlin said on Friday that he kept the quarterback out for precautionary reasons "to keep a minor thing from becoming major."

Wilson told reporters that he suffered the injury while pushing a sled during Wednesday's conditioning test.

Despite this minor setback, Wilson has been notably durable throughout his career.

In fact, he didn't miss a single game in any of his first nine seasons and enters the 2024 campaign having started at least 14 games every year of his career. That durability helped him become one of the best quarterbacks in the league with the Seattle Seahawks.

During the first 10 years of Wilson's career, he won a Super Bowl and reached another. He was also a nine-time Pro Bowler who threw for more than 4,000 yards four times.

However, he struggled to replicate that production during his two seasons with the Denver Broncos and went 11-19 as a starter before joining the Steelers this offseason.

Fortunately for Pittsburgh, it has one of the best backup quarterbacks in the league in Justin Fields who has taken first-team reps in Wilson's absence.

While Fields never quite lived up to face-of-the-franchise expectations with the Chicago Bears, he is still an electrifying playmaker who can break free for long touchdown runs at a moment's notice. He also showed improvement as a thrower as his career continued in Chicago.

If Wilson is sidelined at any time this season, it will be up to Fields to keep the Steelers afloat as they pursue a postseason spot.