Kenny Pickett said he’d be good to go Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, and now he is, officially.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ second-year quarterback was removed from the team’s official injury report Friday afternoon, according to an initial report from NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero, clearing Pickett to play Sunday at Acrisure Stadium against the AFC North-rival Ravens.
The Steelers later released the official injury report for the Week Five matchup against the Ravens, which Pickett was not listed on.
Pickett was dealing with a knee injury that he suffered late in the third quarter in Week Four against the Houston Texans, knocking him from the game with what initially appeared to be a serious injury.
But the Steelers got some good news Monday into Tuesday with Pickett dealing with a bone bruise and a muscle strain rather than any sort of ligament tears. That allowed Pickett to work in practice Wednesday in a limited capacity. He went full on Thursday wearing a knee brace, which ultimately led to Pickett practicing in full again on Friday, clearing him to go on Sunday against the Ravens.
With Pickett seemingly fully healthy for the Week Five matchup against the Ravens, that’ll be a huge boost for the Steelers to have their starting quarterback on the field, rather than turning to their backup in Mitch Trubisky. Though Trubisky was good in stretches last season against the Ravens at Acrisure Stadium, coming on in relief in Week 14 with Pickett out of the game due to a concussion, it’s better to have the starter out there rather than having the offense try and adjust to the backup.
The Ravens have been planning on Pickett being out there all week, and that looks to be the right decision by John Harbaugh and Co. as the Ravens will face the Steelers’ young quarterback for the third time. They are 1-1 against Pickett, beating him in Week 14 though Pickett exited that game early with a concussion.
Pickett got the better of them in Week 17 last season on the road, throwing a game-winning touchdown pass to running back Najee Harris with 56 seconds to go, leading to a 16-13 win that kept the Steelers’ playoff hopes alive.
We’ll see if Pickett is limited in any way on Sunday, and if he needs to wear the bulky knee brace he sported in practice Wednesday and Thursday of the game.
