How long will the Pittsburgh Steelers be without the services of starting QB Kenny Pickett? It’s hard to say for sure but it certainly seems like the former first-round draft pick out of Pittsburgh will at the very least miss the next two games and possibly even as many as the next four. While Pickett is sidelined, veteran QB Mitch Trubisky will get a chance to start and thus it could be an important next few games for him when it comes to his future past the 2023 season.
While Trubisky is under contract with the Steelers through the 2025 season, he’s scheduled to earn $5.25 million in 2024 and none of that money is guaranteed. Sure, $5.25 million isn’t a huge price for a veteran backup quarterback in the grand scheme of things. With that said, it’s probably too much to pay him if he can’t be counted on to play above the line and help produce some wins when called upon.
Trubisky, assuming he starts at least the next two games, will face the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts and at the time of this post, the Steelers are considered favorites in both of those contests with the second one being on the road and on a Saturday. The Steelers really need to win both of these games to stay within the playoff-qualified teams in the AFC.
Trubisky is 2-3 as a starter as a member of the Steelers with all five of those starts coming in 2022, his first season with the team.
Trubisky opened the 2022 season as the Steelers’ starter, but he was benched in favor of the then-rookie Pickett midway through the team’s fourth game, a home loss to the New York Jets. In those first four starts of 2022, Trubisky completed 69 of his 116 pass attempts for 653 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The lone win that he registered in those four games came in the season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Trubisky’s best showing in 2022 came in relief of an injured Pickett in the Week Six game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was 9-of-12 passing in that contest for 144 yards with one touchdown pass.
Trubisky again saw action in Week 14 as he took over for a concussed Pickett early in that game against the Baltimore Ravens. He was quite awful, however, as he threw three interceptions as part of him completing 22-of-30 pass attempts for 276 yards. He threw just one touchdown in that home loss.
That following week, Trubisky made his fifth start with the Steelers and that was against the Carolina Panthers. He started that Week 15 contest due to Pickett still dealing with his concussion. Trubisky finished that 24-16 road win against the Panthers 17-of-22 passing for 179 yards.
In total, Trubisky finished the 2022 season having completed 117 of his 180 total pass attempts for 1,252 yards with four touchdowns and five interceptions. He was also sacked 11 times.
So far this season, Trubisky has appeared in just three games. His first appearance came in the second half of the team’s Week Four road loss to the Houston Texans as he took over for an injured Pickett once again. He was 3-of-5 passing in that blowout loss for 18 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
Against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week Eight, Trubisky once again relived an injured Pickett. He finished that home loss with 15 completions on 27 attempts for 138 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Finally, Trubisky relieved an injured Pickett once again in this past Sunday’s 24-10 home loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He took over for Pickett in the second quarter and finished the contest, completing 11 of his 17 pass attempts for 117 yards with one touchdown pass and no interceptions.
As mentioned, Trubisky will start on Thursday night against the Patriots, and it will mark his third career start against them. He is 0-2 against them for his career. In his previous two starts against the Patriots, one of which came with him as a member of the Chicago Bears back in 2018, Trubisky is 47-of-83 passing for 501 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
Trubisky’s second career start against the Patriots came just last season with the Steelers in the team’s Week Three home game. He was 21-of-33 for 168 yards with one touchdown and one interception in that 2022 home loss to the Patriots, and he was sacked three times.
With Trubisky the starter until Pickett returns, the Steelers are expected to still lean heavily on their running game, and why wouldn’t they? While the team’s offense has looked a little bit better overall since offensive coordinator Matt Canada was relieved of his duties in Week 12, the unit has still struggled to score points. In fact, the offense is 2-of-7 in the red zone in the Steelers’ last two games. That needs to start improving Thursday night against the Patriots.
To wind this post down, Trubisky doesn’t need to look like an All-Pro until Pickett is healthy enough to return. He does, however, need to not turn the football over, something that Pickett has managed to at least accomplish for most of the season. More importantly, Trubisky needs to help guide the Steelers to wins until Pickett returns. If he does that, and if he looks okay overall in that process, he just might ensure that he’s kept around past this season. If, however, Trubisky plays poorly while holding the fort down for Pickett, he might very well be looking for a new team next offseason. It’s really as simple as that.
