Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett certainly made news Tuesday. During his session with the media at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side, he stated emphatically that he will play Thursday night against the Tennessee Titans, just a few days removed from being knocked out of the Week Eight game against Jacksonville with a rib injury.
But according to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Steelers’ beat writer Gerry Dulac, despite Pickett’s proclamation that he’ll play “for sure” the franchise still has not made a determination one way or another regarding Pickett’s status for the primetime matchup against the Titans.
Answering a question regarding Pickett’s injury in his latest chat for the Post-Gazette, Dulac stated rather clearly that nothing has been determined with Pickett yet.
“BTW, despite what he said yesterday, it still has not been determined for sure if he will play against the Titans,” Dulac wrote in response to a reader, according to the Post-Gazette.
Pickett exited the eventual 20-10 loss to the Jaguars at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday just before halftime after taking a hit from Jacksonville defensive lineman Adam Gotsis and being driven into the turf on a play that should have been roughing the passer. Instead, it went uncalled and Pickett left the game with the rib injury.
Though he tried to warm up after halftime and give it a go, he ultimately couldn’t do it, leading to backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky taking over.
With the Steelers on a short week and Pickett dealing with a rib injury, it was widely presumed that Trubisky would start against the Titans, even though head coach Mike Tomlin left the door open for Pickett to play.
Pickett seemingly put those questions regarding his status to rest with his emphatic statement that he’d play, but Dulac is providing some caution. Pickett was limited Monday and Tuesday, though both of those practices were estimations. Wednesday’s practice is the big test for the second-year quarterback.
If he can show the Steelers in practice that he can be a full go, he’ll start. If not, it’ll be Trubisky, regardless of what Pickett said. Stay tuned.
