Steelers Lose Kenny Pickett for Another Week

Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett is on the shelf after having ankle surgery last Monday. The team estimated 2-4 weeks per reports, but Mike Tomlin would not give a definite timeline on Monday. The thoughts are that it could be from two to four weeks. But Tomlin made sure to rule Pickett out against the Colts, meaning he will miss his second straight game. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler thinks a month-long absence is likely.

“The sense out of Pittsburgh is quarterback Kenny Pickett could miss four weeks with that right ankle injury. I’ve talked to people who are at least bracing for that possibility. So Mitch Trubisky could have a four-game run to make something happen. If the four-week outlook holds, then Pickett would be back for the season finale at Baltimore on Jan. 7,” Fowler wrote.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett after his injury against the Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 3, 2023. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now

That injury is a high ankle sprain in the same ankle that has experienced discomfort in before the Arizona game. Pickett will not land on injured reserve, meaning the door is open for him to return at some point before Pittsburgh heads to Baltimore for the season’s final game. Tomlin expressed certainty that it was not a season-ending injury, and the tightrope surgery he had on his ankle will allow him to return sooner.

Pickett suffered an injury on the team’s penultimate offensive play of the first half. He dove toward the end zone when he was tackled from behind by Arizona defensive lineman Jonathan Ledbetter.

Pickett had entered the game dealing with a minor injury to his right ankle and had been wearing a brace on that ankle in pregame warmups. Now, he has a walking boot on that ankle, despite speculation from video of the hit that he might’ve injured his left ankle.

Pickett was seen wearing a walking boot over his surgically repaired right ankle, where he suffered a high ankle sprain on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, both after the Steelers’ Thursday Night Football loss to the New England Patriots at Acrisure Stadium and again at the Steelers’ UPMC Rooney Football Complex on the South Side on Friday.

In addition to the boot, Pickett is getting around on a four-wheeled scooter, to keep his weight and pressure off the ankle. That meant that during Thursday’s game against the Patriots, Pickett was in the booth.