The Pittsburgh Steelers had a rough afternoon at the office against the Arizona Cardinals in their Week 13 matchup. Hosting a Cardinals team that is all but eliminated from the postseason and entered the game with a 2-10 record, the Steelers put forth an ugly performance, which head coach Mike Tomlin ripped into the team for after the game.
As if the loss wasn’t bad enough, the team also lost starting quarterback Kenny Pickett to an injury. A little more than halfway through the second quarter, Pickett attempted to dive forward near the goal line to score a touchdown. Arizona defensive lineman Jonathan Ledbetter dove to tackle Pickett from behind, stopping him short.
Pickett attempted to get up after the hit but was unable to and the training staff came out to tend to him. While he was able to walk off the field mostly on his own, he did have a noticeable limp. After being checked out in the blue medical tent, he went into the locker room for further evaluation.
Eventually, he was ruled out of the game. After severe weather delays caused a stoppage in play, Pickett eventually returned to the field in a walking boot. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Pickett is expected to miss a couple of weeks because of the injury.
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The second-year quarterback had been dealing with some ankle soreness that was suffered in the Steelers’ Week 12 victory over their division rivals. Pittsburgh has a quick turnaround as they are playing on Thursday Night Football to kick off Week 14, hosting the New England Patriots.
Should Pickett not be able to suit up for that game, it will be veteran Mitchell Trubisky taking over as the team’s starter. “We’ll roll with Mitch if [Pickett] can’t play,” said Tomlin after the game.
In relief of Pickett against the Cardinals, Trubisky completed 11-of-17 passes for 117 yards and one touchdown. He was also credited with one lost fumble. Trubisky was the starter out of the gates in 2022 for the Steelers before being replaced by Pickett in Week 5. He made one start after that, in Week 15 when Pickett was sidelined because of a concussion.
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