Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett spoke with reporters on Tuesday and strongly denied an alarming rumor that claimed he refused to be the backup signal-caller for what grew to become this previous Sunday’s 30-23 win on the Seattle Seahawks that saved Pittsburgh within the playoff hunt.
“I noticed stories that I really feel had been attacking, , my character and the way I’m as an individual, not even attending to a participant’s standpoint of it,” Pickett defined, as shared by Kevin Patra of the NFL’s web site. “There was no discuss of me being a backup quarterback this week by way of being a two. If I used to be wholesome sufficient to play, the trainers and coaches felt like I used to be adequate to play, I used to be going to begin and play. In the event that they believed I used to be not, which they believed I used to be not, I used to be not going to decorate and go well with up for the sport.”
Chris Mueller of Pittsburgh sports activities radio station 93.7 The Fan is amongst a number of knowledgeable individuals who reported that Pickett, who hasn’t played since he aggravated an ankle damage in Week 13 on Dec. 3, “was very sad that he wasn’t beginning towards Seattle, and that his being inactive…was a direct results of that.” Backup Mason Rudolph guided Pittsburgh to back-to-back victories in Pickett’s absence, and Rudolph will begin over a medically cleared Pickett for this coming Saturday’s must-win sport at a Baltimore Ravens facet that will rest starters in Week 18.
“So, this week, I’m now the 2,” Pickett stated about serving as Rudolph’s main backup towards the Ravens. “They really feel good 4 weeks out of the surgical procedure for me to decorate and be the 2. So, I would be the two and do what I’ve to do to be able to go for Baltimore. If there are some other questions on that, I really feel I answered it fairly good there.”
In keeping with Brooke Pryor of ESPN, Pickett acknowledged that “one man’s misfortune is one other man’s alternative.” It is unclear what Rudolph’s alternative will imply for the way forward for Pickett, a 2022 first-round draft choose who basically has been benched for the most important sport of Pittsburgh’s season.