After suffering a high ankle sprain and undergoing surgery several weeks ago, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett returned to the team’s practice field Tuesday.
As tweeted by 93.7 The Fan, Pickett went through at least some portion of the team’s practice. As shown below, you can see him and QB Mason Rudolph go through individual work.
Pickett injured his ankle late in the first half of the team’s Dec. 3 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He had tightrope surgery the following day, an increasingly common procedure to help reduce recovery time. That happened just over two weeks from today.
Per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor, Pickett was the fourth quarterback to go through drills behind Mason Rudolph, Mitch Trubisky, and practice squader Trace McSorley.
Pickett underwent the surgery in college at Pitt, missing 26 days. Based on his participation today, it seems as though he could beat that mark. During yesterday’s press conference, Mike Tomlin called Pickett questionable and said the door was open for him to play this weekend against the Cincinnati Bengals. He also said he expected Pickett to receive some practice work this week, making this clip not a shock but still an important landmark for his potential return.
“His availability is not out of the question this week,” Tomlin told reporters yesterday via the team’s YouTube channel. “But at the front part of the week, our attention and emphasis will be on Mason Rudolph. And we’ll leave the door ajar and see how Kenny responds to the work that he did today, the limited work that we’re probably gonna give him tomorrow. And, establish the position in terms of a pecking order the closer that we get.”
The Steelers will release their first injury report of the week today. Expect Pickett to be listed as a limited participant, meaning he probably only took these individual reps while Rudolph handled team sessions.
Pittsburgh hosts the Cincinnati Bengals this Saturday at 4:30 PM/EST.
