After winning four of their previous five games, the Pittsburgh Steelers suffered a disappointing loss in their home stadium when they fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars by a final score of 20-10.
During the contest, Steelers starting quarterback Kenny Pickett had to exit early after his ribs were injured during a hit delivered by a Jaguars defender.
Pittsburgh All-Pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick also had to leave the matchup early after he went down with a hamstring injury.
On Monday, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin revealed that Pickett will be a “game-time decision” for the team’s next game this Thursday against the Tennessee Titans and that Fitzpatrick has already been ruled out for the matchup (via NFL Media’s Andrew Siciliano on Twitter).
Kenny Pickett will be a "game-time decision" for TNF, per Mike Tomlin.
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) October 30, 2023
Minkah Fitzpatrick is OUT Week 9 for TNF, per Mike Tomlin.
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) October 30, 2023
The loss of Fitzpatrick is a big one, especially since it sounds like Pittsburgh is unsure about the total amount of time he will have to miss in order to recover from his injury.
With such a quick turnaround between games, it’s certainly interesting that the Steelers are still going to wait and see if Pickett can still play on Thursday instead of giving him some additional time to let his injury heal.
If Pickett is unable to suit up for Pittsburgh’s next game, then Mitchell Trubisky will get the start under center.
What seemed like a contest that was going to likely result in a victory for the Steelers not too long ago, Pittsburgh’s Week 9 game against the Titans now seems like it’s going to be much tougher, especially with the four-touchdown performance that Tennessee rookie quarterback Will Levis had on Sunday.
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