NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport offered more clarity on the injury situation surrounding Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett during an appearance on Good Morning Football today. Rapoport said Pickett’s injury won’t knock him out for the rest of the season, but he does expect the second-year man to miss time.
“The important thing right here, from my understanding the belief is this is not a season-ending situation for Kenny Pickett,” Rapoport said. “I would expect him to miss some time, but not season-ending. As far as what they are looking at, it’s not the ACL, there’s some concern over the MCL, potentially the meniscus.”
Rapoport said Pickett should return “relatively soon.”
With the Steelers’ bye week coming in Week Six and just the Baltimore Ravens in Week Five coming before the bye, it makes sense for Pickett to sit out and rest his knee with the bye week coming up. He’s undergoing an MRI today, and that will provide more clarity on the injury.
Last night, Mike Florio said the Steelers hope the injury is just a minor MCL sprain. Obviously, any damage to the meniscus on top of that would prolong Pickett’s recovery, as would a more severe MCL injury. But it doesn’t sound like a long-term issue, and hopefully, Pickett can get back out there after the bye. It’s not an ACL injury, as Rapoport mentioned, and Mike Garafolo added that the initial testing didn’t point to an ACL injury.
If Pickett does miss time, Mitch Trubisky would likely serve as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback. He came in yesterday after Pickett exited the game, and Trubisky played against the Ravens last season after Pickett exited early with a concussion in Week 14 last year.
It’s not Pickett’s first brush with injuries, as he had multiple concussions last season. However, it is his first lower-body injury since entering the NFL, but the good news is the injury doesn’t appear to be too severe. While he might miss some time, it’s a positive that he avoided damage to the ACL and that Rapoport believes the feeling is he’ll be back soon.
If he only misses one game, I think the Steelers would take that outcome, especially given the fact that the injury looked pretty bad when Pickett initially went down. It’s going to be tough to beat the Ravens sans Pickett, but the important thing is getting him healthy and at full strength for the rest of the season.
