After not being ruled out for Saturday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 16 of the regular season, Pittsburgh Steelers second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett might be moving closer and closer to returning to the lineup.
For head coach Mike Tomlin, who spoke to the media after practice Wednesday, Thursday will be a big day to determine Pickett’s status for the matchup against the Bengals, according to a tweet from the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat’s Amanda Godsey.
“We had a good day today. We’ll see how his body responds to the work today and make plans for tomorrow accordingly,” Tomlin said to reporters Wednesday, according to audio via 93.7 The Fan.
Tomlin added that he believes Pickett is in a good spot in his rehab, right around where he expected.
“I think he’s where I thought he would be. I think tomorrow’s a big day.”
Pickett returned to practice Tuesday in a limited capacity and went through individual drills with other quarterbacks. It was more of the same on Wednesday as Pickett continued to work in individual drills with fellow quarterbacks Mason Rudolph, Mitch Trubisky and practice squad quarterback Trace McSorley.
According to video on Twitter via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, Pickett was seen throwing passes for the second straight day, this time being the second quarterback in line behind only Rudolph.
On Monday, Tomlin stated that if Pickett couldn’t go, Rudolph would be the starter for the Steelers against the Bengals. The Steelers later made that official, moving Rudolph ahead of Trubisky on the depth chart entering Week 16. But as of now, it appears more and more likely that Pickett will return to the lineup to try and help right the ship for the Steelers.
Pickett injured his ankle late in the first half of the embarrassing 24-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals at Acrisure Stadium, which kick-started the Steelers’ current three-game losing streak. Pickett entered the Dec. 3 game dealing with an ankle injury and further injured it, leaving the game before halftime and emerging in the second half in street clothes and a walking boot.
He had tightrope surgery on his right ankle the following day, which is becoming an increasingly popular surgery to help reduce recovery time and stabilize the ankle following high-ankle sprains. Pickett is just over two weeks removed from the surgery and was expected to miss 2-3 weeks, so the timeline is lining up for the quarterback.
