Halicke: What teammates say about Wilson rewrites every narrative

Russell Wilson didn't come to the Steelers without baggage. His two seasons with the Broncos were tumultuous, at best, with numerous rumblings and reports painting him as a bad teammate. Those accusations seemed to be solidified when the Broncos took on $85 million of dead cap to get rid of Wilson.

Regardless of whatever happened in Denver, it's not happening in Pittsburgh. Not in the slightest.

On the field, it's easy to see results. The Steelers are 3-0 since Wilson returned from a calf injury that sidelined him from the day players reported to training camp at Saint Vincent College. In those games, Wilson has completed 58.8% of his passes for 737 yards, six touchdowns and one interception, as well as averaging 8.7 yards per attempt while posting a 105.9 passer rating. He's been most impressive in the fourth quarter of games, completing 78.6% of his passes, throwing three touchdowns, no interceptions, averaging 15.4 yards per attempt, all good enough for a perfect 158.3 passer rating.

Off the field, however, Wilson has been even more impressive.

"He's been the same guy from Day 1," T.J. Watt told me. "Just so consistent week in and week out. He's a positive contributor, on and off the field. We're just very happy to have him part of the team. And it seems like we can continue to grow. It's hard not to follow a guy who's already been to the greatest of destinations in winning a Super Bowl. That speaks volumes to him and how hungry he continues to be is infectious."

This isn't just an infatuation players have with Wilson, who has a resume that speaks for itself. They aren't looking to him to be any kind of savior for this team, like a guy who's got a Super Bowl ring can snap his fingers and magically get them to football's biggest game. More importantly, Wilson isn't acting like it, either. He's come in with a genuine effort to be the best teammate and leader he can be.

It's already been made known that Wilson takes the entire offense out to dinner every Thursday night. That's 17 times of picking up a rather hefty bill. Wilson extended that further this week by taking the team captains out to dinner Wednesday night: Just him, defensive captains Watt and Cam Heyward, and special teams captain Miles Killebrew.

"It was pleasant. I know it was very well welcomed," Killebrew told me. "We appreciated the gesture. I thought it was a cool moment. I really enjoyed it. I know the guys did, as well."

Things like taking the entire offense out to dinner on a weekly basis or inviting the team captains out to dinner isn't normal. At least, not in Pittsburgh and not for this particular team. Not in a while.

"It was cool," Watt said. "Obviously we're all busy. But for him to set it up and take time out of his day to make it a point that we should all get together was awesome. I'm glad that we did it."

This wasn't some meager attempt for Wilson and the captains to work overtime, changing venues from the South Side to a place Downtown with playbooks and meeting notes in hand. Wilson's doing enough of that anyway, as Arthur Smith told reporters Thursday that he's spent late Friday nights working with Wilson -- so much so, he joked about his wife FaceTiming him to make sure he wasn't somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.

No, this was about Wilson and the leaders of this team growing closer together.

"Just any time we can get fellowship," Watt said. "It's not like we're grinding over football and the team and everything like that. It's just more the fellowship aspect of it. I feel like defensively we do a great job. When we go on road trips, we always get dinner together and stuff. You don't always have that crossover. It was a nice to be able to just catch up and see the state of where we are and what we think we can improve upon."

There it is. For far too long, the Steelers' defense has felt like a well-oiled machine while the offense has felt disjointed and, dare I say, dysfunctional. Even when the defense has failed in recent years, such as finishing dead last in rushing in 2021, they still felt like a cohesive unit. They've been both good and bad at times, but they've done it together.

That's not been the case on the offensive side of the ball. They haven't had the leadership at the top on that side of the ball. Not at offensive coordinator, nor at the quarterback position. Even something as simple as those weekly dinners can do so much.

"It's been awesome, just to build that relationship outside of the building," Pat Freiermuth told me. "Guys have been really responsive towards it. It's been great."

With everything Wilson's doing outside the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, or even the late hours he's putting in there, he's still finding time to do the same stuff that earned him Walter Payton Man of the Year. He's constantly visiting with children in need, so much so he ran into a group of Penguins players doing the same thing:

Some may read all of this and still this is all some disingenuous, inauthentic display -- that Wilson's making himself look like this really positive figure while the same stuff read about in Denver or his final years in Seattle is still going on behind the scenes. The problem with that is not one person here has anything to say about Wilson unless it's absolutely glowing. That includes Mike Williams, who was just introduced to Wilson as his teammate barely more than a week ago.

"(He's been) everything I expected," Williams told me. "He's detailed. He's a leader. He wants to be great. He wants everybody to be on the same page and be great, also. He's just a tremendous leader."

Hmm. This is coming from a guy who just had a strenuous relationship with a quarterback, one at which he wasn't afraid of taking a little jab after catching a touchdown on his first target from Wilson:

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On the flip side, Williams said Wilson told him he wanted him to come in and just be himself, to do the things that made him great before.

"That's the main thing," Williams said. "Whatever opportunities I get and take advantage of, just be me. Obviously, they had this rolling before I got here. Me, just getting where I fit in, and make the plays when the come my way."

All of the stuff I hear about Wilson, not just the handful of interviews done for this piece but from training camp until now, it's a wonder there was ever a negative word written about him previously.

Now, I wasn't in Denver or Seattle, so I can never definitively tell you what happened there. And, to that note, bringing up the Denver or Seattle stuff with these guys is a fruitless endeavor. I tried, and was respectfully shut down.

"We don't pay attention to that," Freiermuth said. "People everywhere have opinions on certain people. It's all about his time here. We couldn't really care less about what happened in the past."

"I try not to judge a man before I have a chance to meet him and see him in person. All I can go off of is what I know about Russell right now," Killebrew said. "He's an effective leader. He cares about the guys, he cares about the organization and he cares about winning. I think that is a theme that we are all trying to fall under."

So far, Wilson's presence on the field has galvanized this offense. It's only been three games with him under center, but they're the most productive they been since 2020, the last time this franchise won a division title. And off the field, he's brought the offense closer, which has had a ripple effect throughout the locker room. Not just the offense, defense and special teams feeling great in their respective groups, but as one team.

"Guys love coming to work every day. We love hanging out with each other," Killebrew said. "Guys aren't in a rush to get out of here at the end of the day. It's just the opposite. Guys will show up early, they'll stay long. We actually enjoy seeing each other outside of the workplace environment. Those are all good signs whenever you're talking about team camaraderie and the collective buy in."

This genuinely feels like a real team. In an age of analytics and emphasis on data-driven results, it appears going the extra mile -- maybe even a simple meal -- still means something.

"I would say this is probably one of the closest teams I've ever seen," Killebrew said. "I've been in a lot of different locker rooms. And this specific team this year has really good cohesiveness. I think that was exemplified by Russ' gesture to bring the captains out."

MORE STEELERS

• Of the players who have suffered season-ending injuries, the one I'm most concerned about now is Cameron Johnston. He suffered his knee injury in the season opener in Atlanta. That was over two months ago, and Johnston is still wearing the same brace he's worn since the surgery and requires crutches to get around. Meanwhile, players such as Troy Fautanu are back to walking around without crutches, and I've even seen Fautanu at times not have any brace on his injured leg.

I don't have a confirmed diagnosis of Johnston's injury. But, whatever it is, it appears to have been pretty severe. Corliss Waitman has been a godsend, but Johnston was paid to punt in Pittsburgh for a reason. 

• Speaking of Fautanu, I've heard that he's on track with his rehab as he recovers from a dislocated kneecap. The surgery for repairing the injury ended his hopes of playing for the remainder of the regular season, but there was some initial hope he could return for the playoffs. The latest intel I have on that is that the playoffs are still a possibility, though they are far from a certainty. There's still a ways to go in his rehab, so we'll have to wait and see if he'll ever become available.

• Williams has made a living making contested catches, especially downfield. In the wake of his game-winning touchdown catch, I asked him if that was a learned ability or if it's always come naturally to him.

"I feel like it's always been a reaction thing for me," Williams told me. "It's also knowing the quarterback you're playing with. And knowing their launch points, where they want to put the ball."

That attention to detail, as Williams described in knowing the quarterback he's playing with, carried over into his first game with the Steelers. Williams said after the win that he was finding ways to remain engaged while on the sideline. He made that time very useful, paying attention to those details, just in case he got his chance.

"Early on, I was in the game and I was seeing how he was throwing his go balls," Williams said. "Some of the guys were looking back at him and then looking up at him, and they were late reacting. So, when I got the opportunity, I knew I just had to check the sky and make sure I was in the right spot."

This not only confirms what I saw in my film study for the latest Chalk Talk, but also shows Williams' dedication to doing the little things. The more players that focus on details, the better.

• It's Steelers-Ravens week, and you can bet that Mike Tomlin is pumped for it. Tomlin usually takes a lap around the locker room about once per week, just interacting with the players, whether it be in some sort of joking manner that carries from the practice field into the locker room or to re-emphasize some Xs and Os with players.

This week, however, Tomlin's already done this routine after every practice. He sure seems as locked in as ever, and he's doing everything in his power to make sure they match his urgency. Through nine games, this team has done just that. We'll see if it continues Sunday afternoon.