Rib injuries — especially on a short week — are tough to overcome in the NFL. Pittsburgh Steelers second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett has seemingly done that, though.
Pickett, who was injured just before halftime of the Week Eight game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Acrisure Stadium on a hit from defensive lineman Adam Gotsis that should have been roughing the passer, was unable to return to the game, putting his status for Thursday night’s Week Nine matchup against the Tennessee Titans seemingly in jeopardy.
That proved not to be the case though as Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin kept the door ajar for Pickett to play, and his young quarterback showed the team enough in Wednesday’s practice to feel comfortable clearing the way for him to return to action against the Titans in primetime.
Speaking with Steelers.com’s Bob Labriola ahead of the matchup with the Titans, Tomlin stated that the Pickett showed the Steelers what they wanted to see Wednesday in practice, leading to Pittsburgh not having an injury designation on him entering Thursday night, putting him back on the field as the starting quarterback for a pivotal game in the Steelers’ season.
“Obviously he got clearance from the medical experts rather quickly in terms of him potentially being available, and so it was about whether he could do the things they said he needed to do, first to protect himself and play, and then be effective enough in doing so. We felt comfortable with what we saw Wednesday at practice,” Tomlin said to Labriola, according to Steelers.com. “We had a Friday-like practice on Wednesday where we hit all of our situational football – third down, red zone, things of that nature, weighty down moments. He had a really good day, and so we feel comfortable with his availability and his ability to do his thing.”
Coming out of the half against the Jaguars, Pickett tried to give it a go in warmups, but the young quarterback was unable to throw the football properly, leading to backup Mitch Trubisky being the guy for the Steelers in the second half of an eventual 20-10 loss.
After Tomlin stated Monday during his weekly press conference that the door was ajar for Pickett to play on a short week, he quickly added that the Steelers needed to see something from Pickett in practice to ultimately feel good about clearing — and playing — him.
“Certainly I’m gonna wanna see something. Absolutely. He’s a young guy,” Tomlin said, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “Position withstanding, he is a young guy and so I need to see some physical preparation in order to consider him, certainly.”
Pickett showed the Steelers enough on Wednesday in the big work day of the week on the short week, and will be in the lineup on Thursday night. That doesn’t come as much of a surprise after Pickett stated to reporters Tuesday that he was “for sure” going to be playing against the Titans, attempting to put to rest any questions about his availability on a short week.
Rib injuries are tricky. Hopefully Pickett is healthy enough to withstand some shots in the pocket that are undoubtedly coming against a stout Titans’ defensive front.
