Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett is dealing with a knee injury, deemed to be a bone bruise, but said he’ll be ready to play by Sunday, per Chris Adamski of TribLive.
Pickett exited Pittsburgh’s 30-6 loss against the Houston Texans on Sunday, and with the Steelers holding a Week Six bye, it seemed like Pickett would miss at least one game. But he claims he’ll be good to go.
He took some reps in practice today, and wore a knee brace on his injured left knee. He said that he “took what I needed to take,” and the way the injury progresses and how the doctors feel will determine those reps throughout the week.
“I took what I needed to take in terms of what they were telling me, the doctors and trainers that we have here, and as we go through the week it will probably go based off what they say,” Pickett said via video posted to Twitter by Adamski.
Obviously, having Pickett healthy and ready to go is a huge boon for the Steelers, but I wouldn’t count on him playing just yet. While he might feel ready to go, it’s going to be up to the staff and the doctors. If they think playing will hinder Pickett or risk further injury, then the team will turn to QB Mitch Trubisky against the Baltimore Ravens.
But the fact that the injury isn’t long-term is a positive for Pittsburgh, and it would be awesome if Pickett could get on the field Sunday. While he’s had a shaky start to the year, he’s the best option at quarterback for this team and gives the Steelers the best chance to win.
The Steelers primarily handed the ball off after Trubisky took over for the injured Pickett last week, with Trubisky going just 3-of-5 for 18 yards in the blowout loss. The Steelers need to get Pickett back on track, and giving him a game to figure things out before the bye certainly could help, assuming his healthy would allow him to go.
That he seemed to avoid any damage to his ACL, MCL or LCL is also good news and one of the reasons why Pickett might be able to go on Sunday. If he does, hopefully he’ll be as a productive he was in Week 17 against the Baltimore Ravens last season, when he led the team on a game-winning drive in the final seconds and finished with 168 yards and a touchdown through the air.
