Wilson officially listed as QB1 as workload increases

LATROBE, Pa. -- Slowly but surely, little by little, Russell Wilson is working his way back from a calf strain. That was solidified Tuesday by his QB1 designation on the Steelers' first official depth chart of the summer.

The 13-year NFL veteran also took on his biggest practice workload since training camp began. It was the first time he's thrown more than one pass in team drills since July 25.

The trade rumors surrounding Brandon Aiyuk seemingly went away for a short time when Wilson stepped under center for the first play of seven shots. He received the snap, turned and handed the ball to Najee Harris before the fourth-year running back plunged across the goal line behind Jack Colletto.

It was the first play of a successful day for Wilson. He threw his first pass of team action Sunday afternoon -- a simple pass to Duece Watts for a decent gain on the right side with Kyler McMichael in coverage -- and we saw him do even more Tuesday.

Wilson replaced Justin Fields under center for the third play of seven shots and threw a fade to George Pickens in the right side of the end zone for six.

It was a pretty nice pass and a great play by Pickens. Here, take a look:

Wilson then capped off seven shots by handing the ball off two more times, once to Aaron Shampklin and then again to Harris. Shampklin was gifted a touchdown to make it 3-3 before Harris was stopped short of the goal line for the defense's 4-3 win.

Throughout the rest of practice, Wilson mostly handed the ball off during team drills but did find open receivers at times. He found Jaylen Warren for a decent gain on a running back screen out of the backfield. However, he targeted Pickens heading toward the sideline during the previous play and his pass landed short as Wilson faced a little bit of pressure up the middle from Larry Ogunjobi.

Despite being limited in 11-on-11s, Wilson still showcased his talents in other drills, just like he has throughout camp. In the 2-on-2 coverage drill, he took advantage of a broken coverage on Van Jefferson and found him in the end zone with a nice pass.

Nothing to write home about, but a touchdown nonetheless. Another look: 

This time of year also allows quarterbacks and receivers to develop timing and an understanding of routes. Each day after practice, Wilson has pulled a few receivers aside to work on things. This has taken place since the beginning of camp. Roman Wilson was one receiver who participated regularly until he went down with his ankle injury and Pat Freiermuth is another.

With Wilson not participating fully in practice, Freiermuth said those after-practice workouts have been crucial to building chemistry ahead of the season.

"Russ has obviously done a great job in there, whatever he needs to be doing, he's gotta do to be healthy for the season," Freiermuth said. "Russ has been great, obviously just getting on the same page with him by watching extra film with him, getting extra reps after practice, before practice, just little things like that until he gets back in full 11-on-11."

Despite conversations of a quarterback competition, until Wilson returns to full go, takes snaps consistently and paints a bigger picture of what he's capable of bringing to the table this year, he's going to remain in "pole position" for the season opener in Atlanta on Sept. 8. But while he slowly returns to full action, Fields has been continuously improving and has taken advantage of every opportunity he has gotten. 

Fields continues to use his legs and did so during seven shots on Tuesday. The play should've resulted in a touchdown, but it was blown dead as Fields used his elusiveness to work past Donte Jackson. It provides a whole new element for Arthur Smith's offense and could benefit the Steelers down the road. 

However, Fields has also been great in the passing game and despite having a pass picked off by Deshon Elliott, which was tipped at the line of scrimmage, in seven shots, he's shown flashes of his first-round talent.

"I've just been trying to take advantage of each and every rep that I get," Fields said Sunday. "I know that if he (Wilson) wasn't hurt then I wouldn't be in this position, so it's just opportunities for me. So I'm just trying to take full advantage of it, to be honest with you. I'm just trying to approach every practice the same, get better each and every day and just build that chemistry."

Fields also appears to be gaining the respect of his peers. As Freiermuth said Tuesday, "He's come in and he's been playing really good football and I think he's been good for our offense and ya know, very comfortable with Justin in there." 

Isaac Seumalo was just as complimentary Sunday, saying, "He's got a cool, calm confidence to him that I think makes it easy to play for him. So it's good to see."

So even though Wilson is continuing to work his way back from the calf strain, the offense seems to be in good hands. When that happens, the real conservation will begin.