The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t just lose Sunday to the Jacksonville Jaguars. They lost a couple of key players, too. QB Kenny Pickett and FS Minkah Fitzpatrick went down with injuries in the team’s 20-10 loss to the Jags, dropping the Steelers to 4-3 on the season.
In his postgame press conference via the team website, Mike Tomlin elaborated on the health of the team.
Tomlin did not have any details to the injuries of both players.
Tomlin confirmed that Pickett suffered a rib injury while Fitzpatrick went down with a hamstring injury early in the game. Tomlin said he believed everyone else who got hurt returned to the game, including LT Dan Moore Jr. and WR Diontae Johnson.
“Minkah has a hamstringing. Wasn’t able to return. Kenny had a rib injury, wasn’t able to return,” Tomlin said. “Had some other bumps and bruises, but I think everybody else returned. Diontae returned. Dan Moore returned.”
Fitzpatrick was lost early after hurting his hamstring covering a receiver downfield. He grabbed his right leg and stayed down for a few moments before walking off the field. Pittsburgh’s safety play struggled without him with Damontae Kazee, Keanu Neal, and Miles Killebrew.
Mitch Trubisky replaced Pickett and was intercepted twice as the Steelers scored just 10 points. Team PR man Burt Lauten tweeted that Pickett was expected to return for the second half, and he was seen throwing on the sidelines, but Tomlin said that did not mean the team was giving him the chance to return.
“Warming up is not reflective of intentions,” Tomlin told reporters.
Trubisky said Pickett did everything he could to return to the game but just wasn’t physically able to do so.
“Kenny knows his body better than anybody, so he tried to go out there and, and throw, and if he didn’t feel like he was a hundred percent, he shouldn’t put himself in that position,” Trubisky told reporters. “And same with the all the trainers and, and coaches. I feel like they made the right choice by protecting him and him, him protecting himself.”
Pittsburgh has a short turnaround for its next game when it takes on the Tennessee Titans this Thursday. The Titans will likely be led by rookie QB Will Levis, who impressed with four touchdowns in his NFL debut Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons.
