Talking to reporters today, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky said he’s not worried about making mistakes, even with rookie first round pick Kenny Pickett behind him on the depth chart.
“I’m not worried about mistakes. I do think about protecting the football and being smart and making good decisions. I’m not worried about mistakes, those happen. As an offense, we just gotta score more points. So how we do that, that’s gotta be the focus,” Trubisky said in a video posted to the team’s website.
Trubisky threw one interception on Sunday, on what was a bad read over the middle of the field and led to a tipped pass and a pick. He hasn’t taken many chances this year though, resorting to dump-offs and short throws away from coverage. That’s led to a lot of three-and-outs and short drives and not a lot of touchdowns. Pittsburgh has to push the ball downfield a little bit more, and Trubisky has to show he’s not afraid of making the tough throw.
I believe that he’s not worried about mistakes. He’s been in the league long enough that most the part, he should know what to do. A wrong read, like the one he made on his interception, happen. But he has to show that he’s not afraid to make a throw down the field if the concept is there. Short throws are fine if they’re working, but right now, they aren’t.
He has to show the ability to push the ball down the field and not just take the easy option when he’s under center, because ultimately, that’s what’s going to get him replaced. If he becomes a turnover machine that’s another story, but one or two mistakes every now and then won’t lose him his job, but not putting points on the board and not moving the ball will.
With the amount of skill position talent the Steelers currently possess, only having two touchdowns in two games is pretty unacceptable. If Trubisky wants to be the guy for the rest of this year, he’s going to have to show he can consistently put the Steelers in a position to score. The playcalling should change too to become less boring and predictable as Alex Kozora broke down, but Trubisky needs to show that he can help this team put up points. If that doesn’t happen, the calls for Pickett will get louder, and Trubisky’s seat is going to get hotter. And if this team still can’t find the end zone, they might have no choice but to make a change.
