Payton Wilson declared himself “100%” and characterized his removal from a preseason game last week as a precaution while confirming he has returned to full practice this week for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
A rookie inside linebacker, Wilson gingerly left the field after a collision during the second snap of this past Saturday’s game against the Buffalo Bills. The Steelers later announced he was being evaluated for a concussion.
“Just got banged up a little bit,” said Wilson, a third-round pick out of North Carolina State. “Got hit in the back of the head, (and) the NFL is pretty strict on stuff like that. But now I’m ready to go. 100%.”
There is no indication Wilson was diagnosed with a concussion or even was entered into league concussion protocol. He is expected to play when the Steelers conclude their preseason with a 1 p.m. game Saturday at the Detroit Lions.
“I am fine,” Wilson said. “I have been fine since … pretty much right after the game. I have felt pretty good. As the days have been leading on, I have felt great, no symptoms, no nothing.”
Wilson has spent all of training camp serving as a No. 3 inside linebacker for the Steelers behind veteran starters Patrick Queen and Elandon Roberts. He is expected to be a “core” special-teamer when the regular season begins, and as the coaching staff designs personnel packages it will be interesting to see how often Wilson is on the field and in what situations.
“I have really enjoyed the preseason because it is slowing the game down a lot,” said Wilson, who was honored with the Bednarik Award as college football’s best defensive player last year. “It’s not like we are just jumping right into Week 1, and then you have to adjust on the fly. It is really cool that, you know, (the first preseason game) for me was like super fast, and I was super eager. And (the second preseason game), it felt like it was slowing down, the defense coming to you and you are able to play fast. So, this week just going to continue to build, so that when I go to Atlanta (for the Sept. 8 regular-season opener) I can fly around and play like myself.”
