Mitchell Trubisky tries to hold off rookie Kenny Pickett as Steelers face Browns
It was less than three quarters until the Pittsburgh Steelers’ home game. The fans started chanting first-round rookie Kenny Pickett.
There will be no patience for Mitchell Trubisky in Pittsburgh. The fan base only knows him from a failed stint with the Chicago Bears and a cheap contract last offseason as the Steelers contemplated what to do as quarterback after Ben Roethlisberger retired.
Pickett is the new and exciting option, and the fact that he played at Pitt makes it even harder for Steelers fans to wait. So the chants came as no surprise, even though they came so early in the season.
“It is what it is,” Trubisky said of the Pickett chants, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “You just block it and keep playing football.”
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Perhaps Trubisky is better off playing on the road this week. The Steelers take on the Cleveland Browns in a game between two teams challenged on offense Thursday night on Amazon Prime.
If the Steelers struggle to score again, those chants will get louder at the next home game.
When does Kenny Pickett play?
Mike Tomlin doesn’t seem to care much about the pressure of playing the first-round pick at quarterback.
Ahead of the season, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer was leaked that this was Tomlin’s plan sit Pickett all season. That would be extremely rare. Since Aaron Rodgers’ draft year in 2005, only two first-round quarterbacks have not started at least one game as a rookie. The list is Brady Quinn and Jake Locker. Everyone else started at least once.
Tomlin might not want to make a change, but he might be forced to. Trubisky has 362 yards and a 76.1 passer rating. The Steelers don’t have a great offensive line, but they do have good positional players. The Steelers won’t be able to go on with Trubisky for very long unless he’s getting anywhere close to 200 yards per game. Last week, the Steelers didn’t move the ball much in a 17-14 loss to the New England Patriots and frustration grew.
Maybe Tomlin is right and Pickett isn’t ready yet. At some point it doesn’t matter. First round picks don’t sit. Trubisky’s reputation for not doing enough after the Bears drafted him second overall doesn’t help him. Steelers fans are already pressuring Tomlin to make a change. Trubisky knows he has to start playing better and that has to happen soon.
Browns also have offensive problems
The good news for Trubisky is that he’s unlikely to be overshadowed by the other quarterback on Thursday night.
The Browns also have their offensive problems, although Jacoby Brissett had a solid game against the New York Jets last week. That was overshadowed when the Browns somehow gambled away a 13-point lead in the last two minutes.
Cleveland is waiting for Deshaun Watson, who is serving an 11-game suspension. Until then, the offense is limited. The Browns will be building around running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt for most of this season, and Brissett is being asked to do his part. That means they’ll play a couple of ugly low-scoring games before Watson comes back. They’ll be fine with that as long as they win some and stay in the playoff race.
Brissett doesn’t have a lot of pressure when it comes to losing his job. The Browns have no other viable option. And everyone knows Brissett will return to the bench when Watson returns. Trubisky is not in this situation. That adds some extra drama to Thursday night’s game.