On Sunday, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett went out just before halftime with a rib injury. He was unable to return and the Steelers ended up losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars 20-10.
On Monday, head coach Mike Tomlin was non-committal about whether or not Pickett would be able to play Thursday night against the Tennessee Titans. We see the notion that Pickett be rushed back onto the field on a short week. Here are the big three reasons why.
Risk of making it worse
The easy one is that putting Pickett out there before he is healthy could put his long-term health at risk. The Steelers offensive line is a wreck and hasn’t shown they can protect Pickett at all this season so you have to assume he’s going to take some hits.
The Steelers are still in the playoffs
To expand the original point about not risking Pickett’s health, it’s important to keep in mind this team would still be in the playoffs this week if they started today. There is so much football left and Pittsburgh is still clinging to the playoffs so this game, win or lose, is not the end of the season.
Pickett might not be better than Trubisky
This is especially true with Pickett banged up. There are things Trubisky can do with his legs Pickett cannot and given how bad the offensive line has been, Pickett might not give Pittsburgh the best chance to win on Thursday.
Will Pickett play?
We have a funny feeling that when it comes right down to it, Tomlin is going to do the right thing and sit Pickett down on Thursday. Lean on the defense, maybe get Cam Heyward back and try and gut out a home win in what promises to be an ugly game.
