After 30 minutes of play Thursday night, it appeared that Mitch Trubisky was about to silence anyone who was clamoring for Kenny Pickett to succeed him as the Steelers’ starting quarterback. But after a lackluster second half for the Pittsburgh offense, the question of who should be the starter remains.
After the 29-17 loss to the Browns, Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin was asked if he would consider making any significant changes over the next few days, including at quarterback.
“I’m not in that mindset,” Tomlin said. “I’m interested in revisiting this tape and watching the whole thing and understanding how we collectively improve. So the answer to that question is definitely no.”
Although it didn’t result in a win, Trubisky put in his best performance yet as a Steelers quarterback. He passed 200 passing yards for the first time (officially throwing for 207 yards on 20 of 32 passes) while scoring a rushing touchdown to give the Steelers a 14-13 halftime lead.
Trubisky, after being criticized for his conservative play in last Sunday’s loss to the Patriots, threw a lot more shots down Thursday, including his 32-yard completion against rookie George Pickens in the first half.
Trubisky led the Steelers on a promising streak to start the second half. However, the drive stalled when running back Jaylen Warren’s 35-yard running back was called off after offensive tackle Chukwuma Okorafor was called out for being on the field illegally. The Steelers pitched on this drive and would continue to pitch on their next three drives. They managed to set up a late practice before eventually running out of time.
“We just have to be better in the second half. I thought in the first half we were pretty good,” Trubisky said. victory. I think in the first half we took a few steps in the right direction. The second half just wasn’t good enough.”
“I thought he made a few plays, but we all failed collectively,” Tomlin said when asked to rate his quarterback’s performance. “That’s how we measure performance. Winning is our business, and we didn’t run the business.”
Trubisky has essentially been the starting quarterback for the Steelers since signing with them on Day 1 of free agency. The five-year veteran kept his job as a regular-season starter despite a solid training camp and preseason from Pickett, the only quarterback selected in the first two rounds of the April draft. Pickett, who was able to supplant Mason Rudolph as the Steelers’ No. 2 quarterback, spent the Steelers’ first three games on the sidelines after taking part in pregame warmups.
While that wasn’t good enough to claim the win, it’s clear Trubisky’s performance on Thursday night bought him more time as the Steelers’ starting quarterback. And, based on how the quarterback situation has been handled thus far, it would likely take something big before a change is made.
It’s certainly safe to assume that Trubisky will make his second home start of the season next Sunday, when Pittsburgh host the Jets in a game that looks more like a must-win for the Black-and-Gold.