Mike Tomlin cut to the chase on Minkah Fitzpatrick and Kenny Pickett in his weekly press conference Tuesday on the South Side.
Fitzpatrick has already been ruled out for Thursday's game with the hamstring injury he sustained in the first quarter of Sunday's loss to the Jaguars. As for Pickett, the door is "definitively ajar" as tests revealed no structural damage to his ribs after sustaining the injury late in the first half. Pickett came out of the locker room for the second half and tested with some throws, but Mitch Trubisky took over for the remainder of the game as Pickett was deemed out.
The Steelers' most pivotal players on either side of the ball are banged up. One is guaranteed out, and the other is a "game-time-type decision," in Tomlin's words, for Thursday Night Football against the Titans at Acrisure Stadium.
"We'll see how we'll go through the week," Tomlin said with respect to Pickett. "His ability to throw, his level of comfort, his ability of effectiveness, et cetera, and we'll let that be our guide in terms of determining his availability."
Losing a starting quarterback for any period of time is a significant challenge to overcome for any team, whether that is on the high school, college, or professional level. Tomlin said Wednesday -- the day before the game which is usually an off-day for players -- will be a working day in order to fine-tune as much preparation as needed for Thursday's game. That includes with testing out Pickett to see if he can give it a go. Tomlin confirmed Trubisky would start Thursday if Pickett doesn't.
"Wednesday is going to be a really functional practice, and so (Pickett will) have an opportunity to display readiness at that time," Tomlin said.
Trubisky completed 15 of 27 passes for 138 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions in relief of Pickett Sunday. He was retained as the Steelers' backup quarterback with a handsome extension over the offseason -- at an approximate $6 million cap hit for this season -- and Tomlin expressed his confidence in Trubisky, should he have to start Thursday.
"Largely, man, Mitch has done a really good job, and I'm talking about day-to-day, the things that come with being a backup quarterback, in terms of being an asset to Kenny, being an 'idea' guy, being a really good communicator, making sure the quarterbacks and receivers are on the same page, et cetera, et cetera. He is highly professional and really good at those things.
"(Trubisky) hasn't had a lot of opportunities to play, but when called upon (he is) always is ready above the neck, competitive. Just really comfortable with him, but we'll see where the week leads us in terms of him having a week of prep or a couple of days of prep on this short week and what that might mean in terms of quality of play. All of those things are up in the air especially considering Kenny's availability's up in the air. We'll talk through those things day by day."
Consider this a replacing of two quarterbacks, so to speak. Fitzpatrick is a master at communication within the secondary and is a vital player to a large portion of what the Steelers do defensively. He plays snaps at safety, linebacker, and cornerback, and he has been placed in the box more frequently as a blitzer this season. Over the offseason, the Steelers added Keanu Neal and Patrick Peterson via free agency to help his secondary, but losing the "quarterback" of the defense will have to be done in short order.
"Obviously the loss of Minkah is a significant one," Tomlin said. "It is a multi-man job, not a one-man job. Thankfully we have some veterans back there. Guys like (Miles) Killebrew and (Damontae) Kazee and Keanu Neal who are veteran NFL players, and that lessens the impact, hopefully. But obviously it's not a one-man job when you're talking about replacing Minkah, whether you're talking about his play-making ability or his hub of communication ability."
The Steelers allowed 377 yards and 5.8 yards per play to the Jaguars and struggled to defend deep balls in Fitzpatrick's absence.
Four of the Jaguars' five pass catchers gathered at least one reception of 27 or more yards, and that included a 56-yard touchdown pass to Travis Etienne to give the Jaguars a 17-3 lead in the third quarter.
"At times it was tough because (Fitzpatrick is) a huge part of that communication aspect, and losing a guy like Minkah is always tough," Neal said. "He's a dynamic player, a big part of this defense. Losing him was definitely hard, but it's a 'next-man-up' mentality. We came in, had a few wrinkles here and there that we had to iron out, but we got things going."
The Steelers now have to prepare for Titans rookie Will Levis, who is in line to make his second career start as Ryan Tannehill continues to recover from an ankle injury. Levis completed 19 of 29 passes for 238 yards and four touchdowns in the Titans’ 28-23 win over the Falcons Sunday, a performance Tomlin said he was "highly impressed" of.
"We've got time to really go over film together, get a feel for what we're going to do game-plan wise with the guys that we have, so that's always good" Neal said. "The preparation for the game is huge this week, not having Minkah in the game. We'll get it going. ... The game plan is the game plan. What ever they put out there it's up to us to go out, execute, and get things situated."
Tomlin acknowledged the short week with one of his old cliches: "We don't run from challenges. We run to them."
That includes this challenge of preparing on a short week, even with other injuries abound. Elsewhere on the injury front, Tomlin said Cam Heyward (groin) and Anthony McFarland Jr. (knee) would be "in consideration" for Thursday, which would be boosts -- Heyward a larger one, obviously -- to either side of the ball.
Those returns might alleviate some of the Steelers' concerns, but this week of preparation is unquestionably different from having to prepare for a Sunday or a Monday matchup.
"Our senses are heightened because it's Thursday-night ball," Tomlin said. "We've got to do a really good job of putting together a plan that's appropriate. When I say 'appropriate,' I mean we'd better do things that we can handle in some instances. We're capable of being an experienced group. In those instances, short weeks are less significant. In other instances where we lack experience, we better be thoughtful about what we ask those guys to do in heir level of readiness in in-helmet perspective on the preparation. But that's no different for any of the teams that are preparing for Thursday-night play. You've got to make those types of decisions in an effort to be diverse enough to keep people off-balance while at the same time managing your guys and putting them in position to play fas and fluid and communicate and be successful."
