Mike Tomlin is hands-on with his franchise quarterback. For him, that starts each morning with a one-on-one meeting. Speaking to reporters following Saturday’s practice, Tomlin discussed how he’s helping to develop Kenny Pickett.
“During the course of team development, he and I met every morning to start a day,” he said via Steelers.com. “We talked about a variety of things. Leadership, things that come with being him. I wanna be a part of his growth and development. I’m not gonna sit on the side and hope that it happens. It happens in the ways that we need it or want it to. And so we are intentionally constructing it.”
Based on how Tomlin phrased things with the past-tense “met,” it sounds like that was occurring in the spring during the Steelers’ OTAs and minicamp. This is a critical year for Pickett and the Steelers, looking to build off how they ended last season, finishing 2022 with a 7-2 record and nearly making the playoffs. But momentum doesn’t exist out of thin air and if Pittsburgh wants to be better, they have to work at it.
There’s other ways Tomlin and Pickett stay connected. As Pickett revealed last season, he’s invited into coaches meetings on Monday as they begin to formulate their gameplan and thoughts of the week with the advanced scouting staff before the gameplan is officially revealed to the rest of the players Wednesday morning.
And the team has created an additional workspace, a spare office in the team facility where Pickett can quietly watch tape. It’s affectionally known as the “Jersey Boys” room for Pickett and fellow New Jersey native FS Minkah Fitzpatrick. In June, QBs Coach Mike Sullivan spoke about its function.
“He had a computer set up for video that was in the team meeting room. And he would spend time there as a rookie. Early on, he went through and established a protocol, a rhythm of what to watch on the players’ ‘day off.’ And then Wednesday, just going through and extra research assignments and things to get ready for the upcoming game.”
That input and worked paid off as Pickett progressed throughout his rookie year. He took his lumps early, thrown into the fire with a Week 5 start on the road at Buffalo, blown out by the Bills and later by the Philadelphia Eagles ahead of their bye. The Steelers’ offense corrected their mistakes on the other side, reducing penalties, nearly eliminating turnovers, and reaped the benefits of T.J. Watt’s return.
Two weeks away from the regular season opener, Pickett must carry over his summer success. It’s difficult to find any flaws in what he and the starting offense did in their three preseason outings, five drives and five touchdowns, but it won’t be quite that easy once the games count. Of course, the Steelers will do more gameplanning on their end, too. And Mike Tomlin will be meeting with Kenny Pickett, making sure he has what he needs along the way.
