Steelers’ Kenny Pickett bonding with receivers, confident INTs won’t persist
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During down periods for the first-team offense at recent Pittsburgh Steelers practices, four of the team’s most recognizable players haven’t put the time to waste.
Quarterback Kenny Pickett and his three most prized pass-catchers — Diontae Johnson, George Pickens and Pat Freiermuth — often have gathered to work on routes.
“Not having the summer obviously hurts with timing and reps,” Pickett said Wednesday, referencing in part his status as the Steelers’ No. 3 QB during organized team activities, minicamp and when training camp began. “So being able to get free time when the defense is out there working off to the side on whatever extra routes we need, timing purposes, those guys are great. They give full effort, and I can get timing. It’s been going pretty well so far.”
Pickett needs to fine-tune that chemistry with wide receivers Johnson and Pickens and tight end Freiermuth because they’re the only proven NFL receivers Pickett has left after last week’s trade of Chase Claypool to the Chicago Bears.
Losing the top slot receiver and the team’s third-leading receiver is less than ideal for a rookie quarterback who’s about to embark on the second half of the season for a team that has lost six of its past seven games and ranks 31st in the 32-team NFL in scoring.
“We just have to adjust that with how we do certain things,” Pickett said. “But I think the ball gets spread around. I think those guys will step up as a receiver room to fill that void. I’m excited to see guys get opportunities and see what they do with them.”
The Steelers are 1-4 in games Pickett has appeared in and 1-3 in his starts. But they are winless in the three games in which he has started and finished. Two of those three were blowouts by a combined aggregate score of 70-16.
The quest to fix what ails the offense navigated through an idle week in which the Steelers practiced three times and had four off days. Pickett joined many teammates in both unplugging in getting away from football but also buckling down in an effort to find solutions.
Pickett expressed satisfaction in offensive teammates’ study habits after referencing a need to improve in that area after the Steelers’ most recent game, a 35-13 loss in Philadelphia on Oct. 30.
But aside from the void caused by the trade of Claypool, don’t expect too many changes in the offense as the Steelers prepare for the season’s final nine games.
“The offense is in the same routine that we’ve had,” Johnson said. “Obviously we are going to come at it with a different gameplan. We are ready for this week. We’ve got to get back on track and get these wins going. The early part of the season we weren’t playing well, but it’s time to turn it up a notch and get back going.”
The first such opportunity for a turnaround comes Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, a team Pickett met with before the NFL Draft and was under apparent consideration for selection as the 11th overall pick. The Saints instead chose receiver Chris Olave, and Pickett went to the Steelers 10 picks later.
Pickett ranks last in the NFL in interception percentage (4.8%), yards per attempt (5.8) and passer rating (66.8). He is seventh among 34 qualifying passers in completion percentage (67.9%), but that is owed in part to Pickett having the NFL’s fifth-lowest average completed air yards downfield (4.5).
Pickett, in particular, acknowledges that he has thrown too many interceptions, but he believes his mistakes aren’t ones that portend a trend that will continue.
“I’m not throwing picks where I’m not seeing the coverage. I see what’s going on, whether it’s a tipped ball or there were a few that they got me on,” Pickett said. “But I’m processing it, I’m going to the sideline and I know exactly what happened and why it went there. So there’re things that I can build on, but the bottom line is that I’ve got to protect the football, so that’s something that, in this back half of the season, needs to be a focus for me.”
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