The Pittsburgh Steelers grinded out a big-time win Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, defeating the road favorites by a score of 20-18. Pittsburgh managed to come away the victors in this game despite missing nearly their entire starting secondary due to injuries as well as losing QB Kenny Pickett in the second half due to a concussion.
DL Cam Heyward took the stand in the postgame press conference to give his thoughts on the win and then opened up for questions to the media. When asked about Trubisky having to get relegated to the bench back in Week 4 as a team captain and the importance to come back out there in this game in-place of the injured Pickett to help Pittsburgh secure the win, Heyward commended Trubisky’s character and professionalism in the face of adversity to be the team captain his team needed him to be against the Buccaneers.
“It’s very important,” Heyward said to the media in his postgame press conference which aired live from Steelers.com. “It shows resiliency. It’s easy to get lost in it. It’s easy to pass the baton on and just say, ‘This is Kenny’s shot, I just got to deal with that.’ But I can’t speak enough to Mitch just stepping up in the moment. We needed a guy to step up and play quarterback for us, and he did that today.”
Mitch Trubisky stepped in for Pickett and proceeded to have his best performance of the season coming off the bench compared to being a starter for Pittsburgh’s first four games of the season. Trubisky went 9/12 (75%) for 122 yards and a TD and carried the ball six times for five yards with a long on nine yards on the ground. He finished the outing with a QB rating of 142.4 in the upset win against the Buccaneers.
Trubisky was elected a team captain like Cam Heyward was at the beginning of the 2022 season. Even though Kenny Pickett started last week’s game against the Bills, Trubisky still walked out for the coin toss representing Pittsburgh as one of their captains even though he wasn’t slotted to play.
Mike Tomlin pointed to Trubisky’s professionalism and class when asked about how Trubisky responded in the moment, being the consummate teammate you want in the locker room, regardless of if he is starting or not. Heyward sees is the same way regarding Trubisky, being the support Pickett needed when he was the starter, but having the ability to step up when his number was called and help Pittsburgh knock off Tom Brady and the Buccaneers.
“I thought Mitch just showed great professionalism,” Heyward continued regarding Trubisky. “Went out there and delivered some big plays when we needed them.”
