Pittsburgh Steelers young quarterback Kenny Pickett was having a hard go at it against the Houston Texans on Sunday, having completed 15-of-23 passes for 113 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception late into the third quarter.
Unfortunately, a questionable play call from offensive coordinator Matt Canada late in that third quarter led to a Pickett injury. Instead of running it with Najee Harris on fourth-and-one from the Texans 33 with the Steelers down 16-6, they called a Pickett drop back. He was ultimately sacked by Texans edge rusher Jonathan Greenard to force a turnover on downs.
As you will see, Pickett found himself on the turf clutching for his knee, too.
after being helped to the sideline and into the locker room, Pickett was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
It’s obviously too early to tell what type of injury Pickett suffered. The hope is that it’s not some sort of ligament damage to the second-year quarterback’s left knee.
Kenny Pickett stats (2023): 802 yards, 4 TD, 4 INT
After initial struggles to open the season, Pickett played well in last week’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders (16-of-28 passing, 235 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT).
He fell back to earth on Sunday prior to suffering the aforementioned injury.
As for the Steelers as a team, Houston would score on its next drive to take a 23-6 lead. Veteran Mitchell Trubisky has been called on to replace Pickett under center.
We’ll have more on this injury as the situation develops.