Last week, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky came in for Kenny Pickett and was a huge reason the Steelers couldn’t get past the Baltimore Ravens. Removing the first interception that wasn’t his fault, Trubisky threw two more that directly led to the Steelers loss.
After the game, the waiting game immediately started as Pittsburgh stayed tight-lipped about who would start against the Carolina Panthers. Tomlin was clearly holding out hope Pickett would be cleared in time to take the decision off his plate.
During the week, Tomlin gave Trubisky and Mason Rudolph ample opportunity to prepare and at the end of the week of practice showed Rudolph’s rust after doing nothing all season was more significant than the improvement Tomlin saw in Trubisky in not turning the ball over.
So in essence, Tomlin is giving Trubisky a “do-over” after a horrible performance last week. No qualms about that and the bigger news here is that Pickett is missing the start. After suffering his second concussion in his rookie season, there was no reason to trot him out in a meaningless game regardless if he was cleared. The fact Tomlin didn’t immediately rule Pickett out speaks volumes about him as a coach and leader of men.
