Mitch Trubisky has started 66 career games in the NFL. He understands the importance of the quarterback position and how the play at that position is directly tied into whether a team wins or loses a particular game.
That's why he is so intent on cleaning up his game after making his first start this season last week for the Steelers in a 21-18 loss to the New England Patriots.
"Slow start," Trubisky said of what plagued the Steelers (7-6) against New England. "I've got to be better on third downs, got to execute better and just continue to get on the same page with these guys. (I) made some better plays in the second half, but it's got to be better this week."
This week will come against the Indianapolis Colts (7-6) on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in what is now the biggest game of the season for the Steelers.
Currently, the Steelers sit sixth in the AFC playoff standings, while the Colts are seventh. The winner of this game remains in a playoff spot with just three games remaining in the season. The loser will likely slide back in the pack.
It will help Trubisky that he has a full week of practice as the starting quarterback this week. Last week, he replaced injured starter Kenny Pickett late in the first half of the team's 24-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, then got his first start in one year in the loss to the Cardinals four days later.
He started the game against the Patriots completing just three of his first eight passes for 19 yards with a costly interception that set up a touchdown for New England and helped put the Steelers in a 21-3 hole.
But Trubisky was 19 of 27 for 171 yards and a touchdown the rest of the way, nearly leading the Steelers back.
With a full week of practice for the game against the Colts instead of the couple of walkthroughs the Steelers were able to have last week, the expectation is that Trubisky will get off to a better start and play better overall against the Colts.
"It should help for sure," Trubisky said. "We need the reps. I need the reps. It just allows me to continue to get comfortable on offense and continue to work on time with these guys and operating offense. So a full week of work is going to be helpful."
A big part of that would be involving leading receiver George Pickens more in the offense.
Pickens was targeted by Trubisky six times last week and had five receptions. But they went for just 19 yards with a long gain of seven yards.
Getting Pickens involved in the passing game down the field might help open up the offense more.
•Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast
"Give him the football, have open communication about what he's seeing as well," Trubisky said of what he needs to do to get Pickens involved. "We can just continue to work on that timing."
The bottom line is to produce a win in a game the Steelers must have to keep their postseason hopes alive.
Trubisky has been in this position before in his career. In 2018, he led the Bears to an 11-3 record in games he started and into the postseason.
With Pickett out this week and potentially in the near future, he knows what it takes to win big games in weighty moments. And he wants to be a catalyst for that with this team.
"I know everybody cares, and I know everybody wants to win," Trubisky said. "So our work, our focus is to make sure everybody's on the same page and go to work and have a great week. So we're focused on that."
