ESPN NFL insider and analyst Adam Schefter explained in August that he believed Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin would turn to rookie quarterback and first-round draft pick Kenny Pickett as soon as veteran starter Mitchell Trubisky “has a stumble early in the season.”
That final stumble occurred in what became a loss to the New York Jets on Sunday and has apparently sealed Trubisky’s fate.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Tomlin is expected to name Pickett his new QB1 heading into this coming Sunday’s game at the 3-1 Buffalo Bills.
Pickett replaced Trubisky to start the second half of the 24-20 loss to the Jets and completed 10-of-13 passes for 120 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions. The 24-year-old added two rushing scores and 15 yards on six carries.
Per ESPN stats, Trubisky heads to the bench sitting at 31st overall among eligible quarterbacks with a 73.7 passer rating and 24th with a 37.0 total QBR on the season. The 28-year-old completed 59.5% of his pass attempts for 653 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions before he was relegated to QB2 duties against the Jets.
“We just thought we needed a spark,” Tomlin initially said of playing Pickett on Sunday, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN. “We didn’t do much in the first half, not enough offensively and thought he could provide a spark for us.
“I’m not going to talk extended as we sit here. We did what we needed to do to put ourselves in position to win this game. We’ll do it again. But I like to just keep it where we are in terms of what transpired here today. We’ll deal with next week, next week.”
It appears Tomlin didn’t have to wait long to decide about his team’s next contest with the Steelers at 1-3 coming off three consecutive defeats.
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