GET UP | "Who has edge in the Steelers' QB battle: Russell Wilson or Justin Fields?" - Adam Schefter

from NFL kickoff so we've put together 10 big questions today and the first one is the obvious big one in Pittsburgh who's going to be the quarterback Russell Wilson played five snaps on Saturday against Detroit led the Steelers first team offense to their first touchdown of the preseason and then they took him right out Justin Fields came in he played three series he also led the team to a score after the game Mike Tomlin gave this timeline on the decision ahead we'll make a decision at the end of our work week this upcoming week uh we got three days of steers versus Steelers work and why not do it then it kind of you know minimizes the Steelers versus Steelers work when we start making decisions prior uh to the completion of that we've got ample time to prepare for Atlanta and make whatever decisions or announcements regarding divisional labor or pecking orders and so forth and so we'll do it at the end of the work week okay so they're going to do Steeler versus Steeler work and then make a decision at the end of the week shefy what should we take from that well it'll be the end of the week as he says and I think most people would be surprised if it weren't Russell Wilson I think Mike tomman has been pretty clear from the outset of the offseason that Russell Wilson has been to use his words in the pole position and Russell Wilson has played well enough to win that job to keep that job however you want to phrase it and again that doesn't mean that it's going to be a long R it doesn't mean we're not going to see Justin fields at some point in time but I think it would be a surprise if he went Justin Fields over Russell Wilson to open the season I I would think most people think that that's the move he'll make that that'll be the Steelers opening day starting quarterback Dan orlowsky if you were the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers who are you giving the ball to I would have started Justin Fields but this was never a quarterback competition we were Bamboozled a little bit I and I have endless amounts of respect for Mike Tomlin there's no way that this is a quarterback competition Russell wh missed practice and only played in essentially one game greeny I remember when both of the moves were made being on the the show and we said if if this was really going to be an open quarterback competition I expected Justin fields to win that this was never a quarterback competition Russell played in preseason week two he threw the ball twice against the Steelers now Justin Fields has had the ups and downs the waves and whatnot I thought he threw the ball really well versus the Detroit Lines everyone was going to say he took two more sacks neither of them were on him and so I understand the premise of like they're banking on the hopeful more consistency from Russell Wilson but this was never a quarterback competition if it was Russell would have played much more in preseason week three this past weekend I would have started Justin fields and I would have tried to minimize the riding of the wave that's not the case in Pittsburgh D would what do you think no I agree listen I me personally I would have started Justin Fields because he brings him to the table from an Athletics uh standpoint that Russell Wilson just doesn't both of these guys are flawed quarterbacks make no mistake about it they're both flawed quarterbacks but at least with Justin Fields I got to game plan something with him at quarterback especially in the running game you don't have anything to game plan against with with Russell Wilson he is who he is and he's not in my opinion he's not going to get any better so like Dan said I think this was never a quarterback competition Russell Wilson was always going to be the guy but me personally I would have started I would have started Justin fields he feels again he feels re-energized he feels like he's in the right environment he feels like he being Russell Russell with the Run game being what it is with the defense being what it is in Pittsburgh he feels like he's going to get a chance to shine and you'll see the Russell Wilson that we've seen in the past now again we have to see Tom make the decision we have to see Russell go out and play but he feels like it's the pieces are in place for him to play better than he has I'm trying to I'm trying to make up my own mind what to make of the fact that he continues he being my in this case continues to push the announcement back if he already knows what he's going to do you what I what I would say is and this applies to New England Pittsburgh I don't understand why they're announcing it at all well what's the what purpose does that serve again if I'm Gerard Mayo I know you want to announce the decision but why am I telling the Bengals who the quarterback is the media will see it but you say to the media practice that's closed off you can't say what we're doing personel wasse like what Advantage is there to say in either case which guy you tell me that's interesting so so let's be clear as far as um transparency is concerned they're obligated to report injuries they're not obligated to report who the starting quarterback and people could figure it out they could sense it but again you want every Advantage you could have right and I would think that preparing for Drake May and jacobe Bret are different Russell Wilson and Justin Fields a little bit different and by the way if you're the Falcons and you're getting ready for the Steelers you probably have prepare for both quarterbacks anyway but what advantage do you gain by saying who it's going to be I'm just what comes out of that is Danny go ahead yeah I would say this I don't know if there's an advantage that you gain I don't know if there's an advantage uh listen you got to know who your starting quarterback is the Pittsburgh Steelers want to know as you go into the regular season who's the guy they you everybody's got to start to buy into what that decision or who that decision is to your point Chey the the Atlanta Falcons they're going to prepare for both quarterbacks it's not like they're not going to have a very specific plan for if Justin Fields were to come into the game because the designed quarterback run is going to be a much kind of more staple part of their offense so they're not going to get surprised by that I don't think this is a deception Thing by Mike Tomlin I agree I don't know what's taking so long to make the decision publicly cuz it's pretty clear that it's been made privately players know who's the start quarterback mhm all you got to do in practice everything's a dead giveway in practice by reps and all that the players know we're not obligated to know but the players on the on their respective squads know who's going to be the starting quarterback week one so we'll see so they they're on their way to making a decision and maybe on their way to making it public that was big question number one 10 days from the set just take that vicious hit come off off coming off the edge I think that's one position that you worry about but he's played better than jov Bret he's he like you could see like as Dan said he's gotten better and better so I would agree I would start Drake May Dan all we talked about leading up to the draft coming out of the draft was this kid is one you're going to have to be patient with don't rush him out onto the field don't make him go out there and do things before he's ready to and now here we are after three preseason games and we're talking about starting Drake May what do you think couldn't pay me enough to start Drake may I I I wouldn't do it and I wouldn't let anybody convince me otherwise I got a lot of love for Lewis here's here's my stance on this if we're looking at it through the the the prism of Drake May when it comes to his Development I've loved it he's he's changed protections he's controlled and owned a little bit of the line of scrimmage he's thrown the ball very well the big flaw coming out of school with his feet and the erratic element of his feet that has improved so much so from that vantage point I get it I understand it someone give me a good reason why to play Drake May are you serving yourself or you serving you know what people may want or or what you think the organization wants or the fans want there there's three things that rookie quarterbacks need to have success in the NFL let alone to make sure they don't get ruined good scheme and play caller plus offensive line plus skill Alex velter offensive coordinator I don't know a ton about I like his scheme I don't know a ton about him as a play caller I think it's his first time so I'm not making a judgment on that they don't have plus offensive line plus skill they don't there's no reason to play Drake May unless you have those three things the Patriots have at least 0 for two if not over for three listen Gerard Mayo has emphasized that this is a competition and he keeps saying that and I think everybody expected all along that it was going to be jacobe brassette to open the season and that they would bring along Drake May when he's ready the thing is Drake May has looked good this summer he has shined when he has gotten chance and so in this world that we live in there's always this rush to start these rookie quarterbacks I love when teams draft these guys and say we're going to be patient we're not going to rush things and all of a sudden sooner before later that rookie quarterback is out there being exposed sometimes it works like CJ strad more often than not it doesn't now Gerard Mayo said that he wanted to make a decision by Tuesday so the next 2448 hours we should be hearing about the Patriot starting quarterback my first question is are we sure that jacobe brassette is okay physically from the hit he took last night after the game d May said he could have come back in the game not an issue so assuming that's not an issue he then can go ahead and make a decision and do you want to start a rookie in Cincinnati first week look to me I would not make that decision based upon the health of Gerard of of of jacobe brassette either corre at the end of the day you've got to do what is in the best interest in the long term of your Young quarterback so we're going to see the first pick start we're going to see the second pick start we're waiting to see a decision on the third in the meantime hello [Music] spee our is for for for h [Music] is sh for foreign spee fore speech speech so excited [Music] [Music] hello fore mother get Dy Dy tolda all it look all it well is enemy [Applause] so excit our base is under attack I d for speech fore back