Pittsburgh Steelers fans had a miserable Week 4, as not only did they lose against the Houston Texans, but also had to watch their starting quarterback Kenny Pickett leave the field with a knee injury that looked pretty bad and it was feared that it could rule him out for months.
[joli-toc]However, as per a report from Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, Pickett only suffered a bone bruise that shouldn’t keep him out of action for too long. The quarterback may be back playing as early as this week against the Baltimore Ravens. However, the Steelers might decide it is better to rest him as they don’t play in Week 6, so Pickett would have close to three weeks to fully recover from his injury.
Trubisky Will Get the Call if Needed
Pickett picked up the injury in the third quarter after he was sacked by Texans defensive end Jonathan Geenard. Replays showed that the Steelers quarterback’s knee twisted awkwardly as Geenard turned him around and Pickett hit the ground.
The 25-year-old couldn’t continue and had to be replaced by Mitchell Trubisky who failed to make much of an impact on the game, with the Steelers surrendering 14 more points and losing 30-6, with C.J. Stroud throwing for 306 yards and two touchdowns and becoming the quarterback with the second-best rookie record for the first quarter of the season in NFL history.
If the Pittsburgh Steelers decide to rest Pickett in Week 5, Trubisky will once again get the nod but will hope for a much-improved performance, especially as the Steelers’ offense is seen as the main culprit for the team’s poor results in the first four games of the season. They have scored one or fewer touchdowns in three of those matches.
Steelers Have a Big Decision to Make
Pickett has also been troubled by a muscle sprain, so if the Steelers play him this weekend, they risk aggravating his existing injuries or facing the same problems as the Cincinnati Bengals have their star quarterback Joe Burrow, who is clearly not at 100%, and people are now wondering if the Bengals should rest him.
That would not be ideal, as it is obvious that Pickett started picking up some momentum, throwing for 803 yards and four touchdowns, with 60.6% completion. It is now up to the Steelers to weigh the pros and cons of playing him this week and decide what to do next.
