PITTSBURGH — Russell Wilson is expected to ramp up his practice activities this week, but Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he is taking the same approach as the first four weeks of the season when it comes to who his quarterback will be for Sunday night's game against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Steelers will prepare Justin Fields to make a fifth consecutive start, but they will monitor Wilson's progress in practice during the week and decide whether he's ready to play once they watch him up close on the practice field.

Tomlin said Wilson is expected to work from a live pocket this week, which means he is scheduled to take part in team drills for the first time since he aggravated his calf injury a few days before the regular season opener against the Falcons.

"It seems like he's in a place where his participation is going to pick up some in terms of practice setting, a live pocket if you will," Tomlin said Tuesday afternoon during his weekly news conference. "We won't draw too many conclusions, but we'll start that process. We'll comb through that day by day, evaluate his ability to move and function and protect himself and obviously evaluate his level of productivity, and we'll let that be our guide in terms of whether we get into serious consideration as we push forward toward game time this week."

Fields has led the Steelers to a 3-1 record and has the team on top of the AFC North heading into the weekend. In the 27-24 loss to the Colts, Fields threw for 312 yards and a touchdown, and he had two rushing touchdowns.

Tomlin did acknowledge for the first time that Fields could keep the starting job if he continues to play well.

"There is a potential for that, but we're not there as we stand here today," Tomlin said.

On the injury front, Tomlin said Alex Highsmith (groin) will be out again this week. Many others begin the week with their availability up in the air.

Running backs Jaylen Warren (knee) and Cordarrelle Patterson (ankle) are questionable to begin the week. Patterson was in a walking boot Tuesday morning.

Tight end MyCole Pruitt, who missed the past two games with an ankle injury, is also questionable to begin the week, while left guard Isaac Seumalo could return to the lineup this week after missing the first four games with a pectoral injury.

What he said: "You're going to get wrong from time to time just like the opponent will make a play from time to time, but it's how we respond to it. We still had a lot of opportunities to win that game after that call. I didn't like that call. I talked to New York yesterday. They didn't like that call, but that doesn't help me on a Monday. On Sundays, we better be mentally tough, and we better move on to the next snap and understand that's a component of the game. The officials aren't perfect. None of us are. We make mistakes in-game we have to overcome. If they make mistakes in-game, we better be prepared to overcome that as well." — Tomlin on the personal foul penalty on Minkah Fitzpatrick in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game that gave the Colts a new set of downs.

Our take: Tomlin sharing that NFL officials in New York also disagreed with the penalty is a bit more detail we usually receive when it comes to officiating mistakes. As a longtime member of the competition committee, Tomlin has resisted more replay review. Still, Sunday's call is another instance of how sometimes the play moves too fast for on-field officials to make proper judgment calls in real-time. The league has the apparatus to overturn these types of mistakes. The owners should make a push in the spring to do just that.

Up next: The Steelers play host to the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football at 8:20 p.m. at Acrisure Stadium. The Cowboys are 2-2 and are coming off a 20-15 victory against the Giants. The Cowboys lead the all-time series, 17-16, and have won six of the past nine meetings. The Steelers won the last meeting, 24-19, in Dallas during the 2020 season.

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