Russell Wilson’s end-of-season performance continued a struggle for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the quarterback position. And, according to one Steelers insider, his play deteriorated throughout practice time late in the year.

Brooke Pryor of ESPN stated that Wilson’s play in practices late in the year was exceedingly poor, and while he was positive in public, his struggles were exacerbated as time went along.

“Towards the end of the season, the practices at Acrisure Stadium before the playoff game, I just remember watching Russ and thinking, ‘This is not good,’” Pryor said on the Shek Show podcast. “He did not look good. He was making mistakes, he was throwing picks. I felt like the defense was gonna put up a bigger fight based on what I was seeing in practice. I felt like Russ kind of went over a cliff at some point in the season in that five-game losing streak. And no matter how much positivity he’s preaching, the actions didn’t back up the words. It just snowballed.”

Wilson’s stats look sterling, but his last five games he struggled greatly. The Steelers were hoping to extend Wilson, but it certainly seems that the arrow is now pointing more towards Justin Fields returning and getting the starting spot for the 2025 season than it is shelling out a big contract to a 36-year-old Wilson was rocky down the stretch.