As the Steelers look to wash away the stench of Sunday's 24-10 loss to the Cardinals, they'll do so without the services of quarterback Kenny Pickett.
Head coach Mike Tomlin said Pickett had surgery on his ankle Monday morning to help expedite his recovery from a high ankle sprain and will not play in Thursday night's game at Acrisure Stadium against the New England Patriots.
"He was managing that ankle prior to yesterday," Tomlin said of Pickett. "I think he was listed on the injury report every day last week. It got aggravated. And we just did what was necessary in terms of addressing it. I don't know that we're viewing it as something that's chronic, particularly with something like an ankle injury. And so we just deal with this on a case-by-case basis."
The Steelers (7-5) enter Thursday night's game in the top wildcard spot in the AFC despite their loss on Sunday.
Pickett was injured late in the first half of the loss to the Cardinals while diving for the goal line and a defender landed on his lower leg.
Veteran Mitch Trubisky replaced him for the following snap – a failed run on fourth-and-goal from the 1 – and the remainder of the game.
He led the Steelers to their only touchdown, throwing a 2-yard scoring pass to Diontae Johnson in the fourth quarter, and finished the game 11 of 17 for 117 yards.
Trubisky, who began last season as the starter for the Steelers after being signed in free agency, is 2-3 in five career starts for the Steelers, completing 63.8 percent of his passes for 1,525 yards with six touchdowns and seven interceptions. That includes 273 yards and two touchdown passes with two interceptions he's thrown this year in relief of Pickett.
Trubisky, the second-overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Bears, has started 55 games in the NFL, leading his teams to a 31-24 record.
"He has an outgoing and welcoming personality," Tomlin said. "He's a good communicator. He's been a franchise quarterback before he's comfortable in those shoes. He doesn't behave like a backup just being elevated. And I think those are things that make him attractive."
Pickett has completed 62 percent of his passes this season for 2,070 yards with six touchdowns and four interceptions. He has also rushed for one touchdown.
He has a streak of 218 consecutive passes without throwing an interception, a span that now stretches to eight games. But the Steelers also have scored just 10 offensive touchdowns in those games.
With Pickett sidelined, the Steelers also will elevate Mason Rudolph to the No. 2 role behind Trubisky.
"We've got experience with him. He's got experience with us within our program," said Tomlin of Rudolph, who is 5-4-1 in 10 career starts with the Steelers. "He's a good idea guy, a good sounding board for the guys that are in and, so he's just a real comfortable thing for us."
The injury to Pickett is not, however, considered season ending according to Tomlin.
Roberts, Seumalo questionable: The injury to Pickett was not the only one the Steelers suffered in the loss to the Cardinals. Both inside linebacker Elandon Roberts and left guard Isaac Seumalo exited the game in the second quarter, as well. Roberts suffered a groin injury, while Seumalo has a shoulder issue.
Tomlin said both are questionable to play Thursday.
The injury to Roberts is especially troublesome. With the Steelers having lost inside linebackers Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander in recent weeks, Roberts had taken on a bigger role in the defense and was also in charge of relaying the defensive play calls from the sideline.
"Essentially, we lost our defensive quarterback in Elandon Roberts when he went down with injury, coupled with the fact that obviously we've lost Cole and Kwon in previous weeks really put a strain on us at that position in play making and communication," Tomlin said.
Tomlin said veterans Blake Martinez and Myles Jack, both signed in recent weeks after the injuries to Holcomb and Alexander, could be in consideration for bigger roles.
Martinez was signed off Carolina's practice squad recently, while Jack was signed to the practice squad after previously announcing his retirement from football in August.
Both are veteran players. Martinez, a seven-year veteran, had four-straight seasons with at least 140 tackles with the Packers and Giants from 2017 through 2020, while Jack spent the 2022 season with the Steelers, starting 13 games and appearing in 15.
"We value NFL experience, even if that NFL experience was not in a training camp or has, you know limited work in that area," Tomlin said. "And so we didn't wait for the next domino to fall before we acquired those guys and began their physical preparation process. We did that a couple of weeks back, hopeful that we would have more time but you don't always get what you want. And so we'll see what those look like."
With neither active for the game against the Cardinals, the Steelers played Mykal Walker and Mark Robinson at inside linebacker after Roberts exited the game.
