Steelers get concerning injury news on QB Kenny Pickett

The Pittsburgh Steelers not only lost an ugly football game to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, they also lost their starting quarterback late in the first half when Kenny Pickett had to leave the game with an ankle injury.

The bad news did not end there.

According to multiple reports on Sunday night, Pickett is expected to miss at least a couple of games. Long-time Steelers beat writer Gerry Dulac reports that Pickett will undergo a surgical procedure to repair the injury and he will be sidelined for the next 2-4 weeks. 

He was replaced by veteran Mitch Trubisky on Sunday and it is expected he will be the starting quarterback in Pickett's absence.

Pickett's second year has not produced the sort of improvement or step forward the Steelers were hoping for after a strong finish to his rookie year. He has done an excellent job protecting the football and has been one of the league's best when it comes to preventing turnovers. But every other aspect of his game has taken a step backward. He has thrown for just six touchdowns as the Steelers offense has been one of the worst in the NFL.

Trubisky signed with the Steelers prior to the 2022 season and was supposed to be the short-term replacement for Ben Roethlisberger. But his hold on the starting job lasted less than four weeks when he was eventually replaced by Pickett in Week 4 of the season.

Trubisky will be more aggressive and take more shots down the field than Pickett will, but that has not exactly produced a more productive offense. If anything, it has actually been a detriment to the offense as Trubisky has been more prone to turnovers. Since the start of the 2022 season the Steelers are 14-7 in games where Pickett has played the bulk of the snaps and 2-6 in the games where Trubisky does. Turnovers are the big difference between the two quarterbacks.