There's a quarterback competition playing out at the Pittsburgh Steelers' training camp, but the frontrunner is unchanged.
Russell Wilson is in the lead for the QB1 spot ahead of Justin Fields, just as he was in the spring when head coach Mike Tomlin proclaimed Wilson as being in "pole position."
"Nothing has changed," Tomlin told reporters Wednesday when asked if Wilson still held the upper hand in the battle with Fields.
Though Wilson is in the lead, just how he and Fields split reps will be distributed cautiously.
"Very carefully," Tomlin said when asked how he would allocate reps. "You think I'm actually going to back myself into a corner so you guys are gonna ask me daily about the rep allocations? No way. I've been on the job too long for that."
The 52-year-old Tomlin is entering his 18th season and there's not much novel to the job for him. However, QB competitions certainly aren't new in recent years as the Steelers have cycled through a camp battle and a starting carousel involving Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky and Mason Rudolph following the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger.
None of those signal-callers are still with the team.
The Steelers picked up Wilson this offseason after he was released following two underwhelming seasons with the Denver Broncos. Meanwhile, they added Fields in a low-risk trade with the Chicago Bears.
The 35-year-old Wilson, despite his recent travails, has the better resume: nine Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl win with the Seattle Seahawks. Fields, the 25-year-old 2021 first-rounder, it would seem has more upside.
For now, though, nothing's changed and Russ is in the lead, with his work ethic resonating with Tomlin.
"There's a lot of interesting things about him in terms of his appetite for work that's really attractive," Tomlin said.
As Wilson's maintained his position at the front of the competition through the spring and into the summer, there are obviously no guarantees he'll emerge as the Week 1 starter. Whether it's Wilson or Fields, though, the Steelers will have a different opening-week starter for the fourth consecutive year.
