PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett said that he feels he could be ready to play this week against the Seattle Seahawks, but that it’s up to team trainers and coaches, and how he looks in practice to make that decision.
“I feel like I could [play this week],” Pickett said. “I always try to push myself. It’s the trainers. It’s the coaches. It’s what they see me moving and how they want to go about it.”
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Pickett says in the meantime, he’s just showing up at practice and following the progression lined out for him by the team’s medical staff.
“It’s just taking it a day at a time,” he said. “They have a plan for me. I’m just going with what they’re telling me.”
Pickett said the reason that he wasn’t able to suit up for the team’s Week 16 game against the Cincinnati Bengals was that the training staff didn’t feel that he was able to move well enough to protect himself.
That echoes what head coach Mike Tomlin said last week. Tomlin declined to answer the hypothetical of whether Pickett would play if he were medically cleared to do so before Sunday. Pickett said he doesn’t know.
There are only two weeks remaining in the regular season, so Pickett doesn’t have a ton of chances to return to the lineup, but he said he never considered shutting things down.
“That’s never been my mindset,” he said. “I’m always trying to come back as soon as possible.”
So Pickett will continue to put in the work and try to get ready as quickly as possible.
“Getting the mental reps, taking advantage of the stuff I’m not getting physically by standing behind and going through my reads,” he said when asked what he wants to accomplish at practice.
“It feels like I’m on track with what I need to do. It’s really not how I feel. It’s really what they see me doing and how I’m looking moving around and everything.”
Pickett did acknowledge his frustration about not being able to finish the season.
“It’s obvious,” he said. “Any competitor wants to get in there and play. I’m trying to come back as soon as possible.”