With QB Kenny Pickett on the mend for the next 2-4 weeks after undergoing surgery to help speed up the recovery process from a high ankle injury suffered against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, it appears to be the Mitch Trubisky show in Pittsburgh until Pickett is fully recovered and able to return.
However, there has been speculation regarding Pickett and whether or not he is this team’s future as their franchise quarterback after regressing in his second season. He has posted poor numbers when it comes to passing yards and touchdowns, as well as executing consistently on a weekly basis. Many pegged the issues of the offense on OC Matt Canada, who the Steelers decided to move on from two weeks ago. They hoped the move would spark the offense and allow them to evaluate Pickett without having their former coordinator clouding that evaluation process.
Former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger spoke about Pickett and his injury in his recap of the game on his podcast on Tuesday, stating that if backup QB Mitch Trubisky starts to play well in the coming weeks with Pickett on the mend, the notion could be made that perhaps Pittsburgh’s issues on offense may have been Pickett and Canada as a collective.
“If they come out this week and the offense is just plugging along… like they’re just picking up yards or scoring points or doing all this stuff with Mitch, unfortunately, people are gonna start saying, ‘Hmm, that’s probably both of ’em,'” Roethlisberger said on Footbahlin which aired on Channel Seven’s YouTube channel. And so, that’s what I’m saying, it’s a unique situation for both, for Mitch, for Kenny, for everybody. And it stinks. But it’s the nature of this beast. And listen, do I think that when he comes back, he’ll play unless they go win four in a row and Mitch is playing really, really well. He’s your guy. You drafted number one in the first round. I don’t think they pull that plug. I don’t think Mr. Rooney’s ready to pull that plug yet.”
As head coach Mike Tomlin mentioned in the past, the starting quarterback is graded based on wins and losses more than stats. In that department, Pickett has done well as Pittsburgh’s starter, leading this team to a 7-5 record while getting knocked out of three games this season against the Texans, Jaguars, and Cardinals. Still, the process to get those wins hasn’t been pretty. Pittsburgh’s passing game has looked abysmal for most of the season, with Pickett looking underwhelming under center. He has just six touchdowns on the season while averaging 172.5 passing yards per game.
To be fair, he did put up 278 yards in his first game without Canada as offensive coordinator and got knocked out of Sunday’s game against Arizona in the first half. But if Trubisky were to play well while Pickett is out, fans would call for Pittsburgh’s former first-round pick to get benched to see what Trubisky could do. That’s the story that Gerry Dulac put out there this week, stating that Pittsburgh had “some discussions” about making a change at quarterback after their loss to the Cleveland Browns in what was Pickett’s worst game of the season. We don’t know how valid that take is, but now Pittsburgh finds themselves in a weird spot having to possibly make that decision with Pickett out and looking to see how Trubisky plays while he is on the mend.
He’ll get his first chance on Thursday night against the New England Patriots, hoping to get a win and keep Pittsburgh’s playoff hopes alive. Still, Roethlisberger’s thoughts on the matter likely are true as Pittsburgh needs to find out what they have in Pickett and will likely have him retake his spot as their starting quarterback barring a heroic performance by Trubisky over the next 2-4 weeks of the season.
