Kenny Pickett Looking to Check One Key Box vs. Falcons

PITTSBURGH — Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett remains unsure how much he will play against the Atlanta Falcons but assumes that he will suit up on Thursday. Head coach Mike Tomlin did not guarantee that everyone would take the field on Thursday but maintained that most healthy players would play on Thursday. Pickett likely is in those plans to play an amount, but Tomlin has a set agenda for what he needs to see.

“Those that are healthy are scheduled to play,” Tomlin said. “We got an agenda with our units, talked about first unit, second unit, third unit, if you will. There are certain things that we want to see. We did a little planning for this. And so, you know, the process of strategic planning, teaching, learning, preparing, and then playing, we want to see that…by no means am I guaranteeing that everyone plays, really it’s our ability to see what it is that we need to see before we move on. And I think such as like this time of year, man as the road gets narrow. We’re trying to make some decisions regarding 90 moving to 53.”

Pickett and the offense continued their routine of going through the same motions they did for their first two games. Tomlin noted some strategic things the team needs to see, including from the first-team offense. But Kenny Pickett has one box that he has yet to check and can not check in just one game. He does not want the offense to slow down in any way or facet and remain steadfast in their strong showings.

“I want to just show consistency,” Pickett said. “So, we had a good first two games; let’s stack another one on there and go into the season. Consistency. It’s just playing; you got to keep doing it.”

Pickett and the first-team offense should see a lot of run. Mitch Trubisky and the first-team offense played the entire first half a year ago in the third preseason game. A two-minute drill, for example, is something the first-team offense has yet to run in an actual game. But Tomlin seems ready to play the game by ear once again, and if the Steelers’ offense comes out firing on all cylinders, it could very well be another short night.