Russell Wilson will make his debut for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The quarterback will start his team’s preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, coach Mike Tomlin announced on Thursday.

Tomlin said that barring a setback, Wilson will play about four series in the test game after missing Pittsburgh’s first preseason game with a calf injury. Wilson injured his calf while pushing a sled during the team’s conditioning test on July 24, which severely limited his participation in the first part of training camp.

With Wilson limited, Justin Fields took over the majority of the first-team duties in training camp. Before the first preseason game, Tomlin continued to list Wilson as QB1, but stressed that it was “a real competition” between Wilson and Fields.

For months, all signs have pointed to Wilson starting for the Steelers – not only in this preseason game, but also in Week 1.

Shortly after the veteran quarterback was signed, Tomlin said Wilson was in “pole position.” Tomlin has also talked about how Fields can benefit from learning from Wilson. And even after Wilson was significantly limited in the early stages of training camp, he maintained his QB1 status when the initial roster was released before the first preseason game and again when the roster was updated before the second preseason game.

Reading between the lines at QB

All of these words and actions suggest that Wilson not only held the “pole position,” but also had a notable lead over Fields due to his experience and leadership skills. Now that Wilson is healthy again, it’s no surprise that he’s the one who will be in the starting lineup against the Buffalo Bills.

The real question is whether he can use this opportunity to put an end to the talk of the quarterback competition or whether he will leave the door open for Fields.

Wilson is coming off a strong week of practice that has seen him make more and more appearances with the first team, but Tomlin has said he values ​​experience more “in the stadium,” so Saturday could be crucial in deciding the quarterback competition.

Required reading

(Photo: Justin Berl / Getty Images)