First Call: Steelers reportedly 'unsure' about Russell Wilson's status for Sunday; NFL explains Steelers-KC matchup

Friday’s “First Call” has a national report on the injury to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson. We get an explanation as to how the NFL constructed the Christmas Day game between the Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs.

An old name from the Steelers wide receiver hunt has resurfaced. Plus, we survey the local college football scene this weekend.

Mr. Limited

The Steelers aren’t sure if they will have Russell Wilson available as quarterback for the 2024 opener against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. That’s according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

As TribLive’s Joe Rutter described, Wilson’s troublesome calf tightened up Thursday, and he was a limited participant at practice.

“After nursing a calf injury during training camp, Russell Wilson felt tightness in his calf (Thursday). That’s not encouraging,” Schefter said via ESPN’s NFL Live. “The Steelers are unsure whether he’ll be able to play on Sunday. We’ll probably have a better idea (Friday). If he can’t go, then Justin Fields would wind up starting against Atlanta. We’ll see how Wilson is feeling on Friday.”

Mike Tomlin said that the team “wanted to exercise some precaution,” and that’s why Wilson was pulled from practice. The Steelers’ head coach also added that he didn’t have any long-term concerns with Wilson’s calf and insisted he is “completely comfortable” if Fields has to start.

For his part, receiver Van Jefferson seemed surprised that reporters were even asking about Wilson’s availability.

Steelers WR Van Jefferson on if Russell Wilson will play Sunday in Atlanta after being limited in practice today: pic.twitter.com/udaNAuDowJ

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 5, 2024

Wilson originally injured his calf the day before training camp practices began when he was pushing a blocking sled during the conditioning test. I still can’t comprehend why.

Stockings hung by the chimney, n’at

Very few people in Pittsburgh are thrilled with the idea of the Steelers having to play the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day this year.

Based on what we all saw Thursday night, watching the defense try to keep rookie receiver Xavier Worthy in check might do more to ruin Christmas than the Bumpus’ dogs.

XAVIER WORTHY HAS ARRIVED.

????: #Kickoff2024 on NBC/Peacock
????: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/0612BrVxlJ

— NFL (@NFL) September 6, 2024

Xavier Worthy is really a Kansas City Chief ????

????: #Kickoff2024 on NBC/Peacock
????: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/6fVsiolvAX

— NFL (@NFL) September 6, 2024

But aside from him, and aside from the game being on a holiday, it’s also on a Wednesday.

A Wednesday? How did that happen?

NFL Vice President of Broadcasting Onnie Bose explained on this week’s edition of the Ross Tucker podcast.

“Go back to 2020 and the covid year. We learned that we can be pretty resilient and flexible in a lot of things,” Bose said. “That informs our ethos.”

I’m sorry, did he say “ethos” or “egos?” Anyway, you were saying Onnie?

“Getting to a Wednesday game was challenging, but if you do the math, you know, you can play Sunday to Thursday. Teams do it regularly. So, what’s the shift? Play Saturday to Wednesday. We did a lot of work on that,” Bose continued. “We kind of had to focus on a division. And we got to a place where it’s a couple of teams from the AFC North (the Steelers and Ravens). It’s the Texans and the Chiefs. Desirable combinations. Pitt-Baltimore, KC-Houston on Saturday of Week 16, and you come back with KC at Pittsburgh and Baltimore at Houston on Christmas. It felt really exciting.”

Bose added that Netflix — which will carry the games globally — says its platform is consumed on Christmas Day more than any other day of the year.

More sports

• Steelers’ Najee Harris appreciates Arthur Smith’s offense, Cordarrelle Patterson’s vet presence
• Steelers OC Arthur Smith not 'caught up' in return to Atlanta for Week 1 matchup
• Tim Benz: No room for Steelers to overcome a typical sluggish start in 2024

Down the line

Since the Steelers couldn’t figure out a way to get Brandon Aiyuk from the San Francisco 49ers before the season started, how about the idea of trading for Courtland Sutton during the season?

Don’t rule it out, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler.

“Pittsburgh will also likely monitor the landscape for potential developments leading up to the trade deadline,” Fowler posted Thursday. “Several teams have tried to trade for Denver’s Courtland Sutton, but the Broncos have not been willing to trade him … so far. Perhaps Pittsburgh will entertain a reunion between Sutton and Wilson.”

Indeed, Wilson and Sutton were teammates in Denver the past two years. Sutton totaled 123 catches, 1,601 yards and 12 touchdowns in that time.

There had been trade rumors linking the Steelers to Sutton this past offseason. Like Aiyuk, Sutton wasn’t exactly thrilled with his contract in Denver.

However, that conversation cooled once the Broncos retooled Sutton’s deal so that he could earn an extra $1.5 million in incentives for 2024. That would yield a potential total of $15.2 million on the season. He is under contract through 2025.

How is it stacking up?

The Pitt Panthers are still underdogs heading into this weekend’s game, according to BetRivers.com. That outlet has the opposing Cincinnati Bearcats as 2½ point favorites at home against Pat Narduzzi’s team.

Cincy came to Pittsburgh and won 27-21 a year ago. Both teams ended up 3-9 on the season. Pitt won this year’s opener 55-24 over Kent State at Acrisure Stadium a week ago. The Bearcats were 38-20 winners over Towson. That game is at noon.

As for West Virginia, they are in Pittsburgh next week after losing to Penn State, 34-12, on Aug. 31. But they have to play Albany this week in Morgantown first. That’s a 6 p.m. game Saturday. Greg Gattuso’s Great Danes beat LIU, 27-21, last week to open the season. There is no line on that game, as the Danes are playing up from FCS.

Penn State is hosting Bowling Green at noon. The Nittany Lions are a whopping 35-point favorite. The Falcons beat Fordham in Week 1 by a final of 41-17.

Also, Duquesne is playing an FBS team for a second straight week after losing at Toledo, 49-10, on Aug 29. They visit Boston College at 3:30 p.m., fresh off an upset of No. 10 Florida State on Monday night. And Robert Morris welcomes Edinboro after the Colonials dropped their opener 36-14 at Utah State.