With Kenny Pickett undergoing tightrope surgery on his ankle Monday, the quarterback has a reported return timeline of 2-4 weeks. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler is hearing that it could be on the high end of that number, writing in his weekly news and notes column with Dan Graziano that the “sense out of Pittsburgh” is that Pickett could miss up to four weeks.
“The sense out of Pittsburgh is quarterback Kenny Pickett could end up missing four weeks with that right ankle injury. I’ve talked to people who are at least bracing for that possibility,” Fowler writes. “So Mitch Trubisky could have a four-game run to make something happen. If the four-week outlook holds, then Pickett would be back for the season finale at Baltimore on Jan. 7. With the Steelers’ rocky offensive journey this season, how the team finishes will be anyone’s guess. Coach Mike Tomlin’s culture typically prevails in situations like this, but the Steelers will be tested.”
That aligns with a tweet that NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport put out on Monday that Pittsburgh wants to have Pickett back for its Week 18 finale.
If he is out for four games, he’ll miss matchups with the New England Patriots (which he’s already been ruled out of by Mike Tomlin), Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals and Seattle Seahawks. For the 7-5 Steelers, not having their starting quarterback during the thick of the playoff race isn’t ideal, and it’s going to be up to Trubisky to keep the Steelers in contention with his play under center.
Pickett didn’t go on IR, which would force him to miss four games. The hope is that he could return ahead of that timeline, but it sounds as if Pickett will miss at least three games, with four seeming more likely. It is worth noting, as our own Dr. Melanie Friedlander pointed out, that Pickett underwent a similar procedure in 2020 at Pitt and returned in 26 days. If he was able to return 26 days after his Monday surgery, that would put him in line to return for Week 17 against the Seattle Seahawks, with only three games missed. That would likely be the ideal scenario for the Steelers, especially if the team is still fighting for a playoff spot.
While it’s the higher end of the timeline, the Steelers would prefer Pickett back fully healthy and not limited with an ankle that hasn’t fully healed. Given that they’re comfortable with Trubisky and his experience as a starter, the Steelers aren’t going to rush Pickett back before he’s ready, even if that involves missing four games and returning for the regular-season finale.
