It's called Friday Insider, but it'll often take a lot longer than the following week to find the real inside story.
Remember the fuss, for instance, over Kenny Pickett not suiting up in Seattle for the Steelers' game against the Seahawks on New Year's Eve? When a couple of reports suggested or outright accused Pickett of refusing to play if he couldn't start? After which Pickett would let loose on those reports once back home?
Like this:
Well, it took me forever, but I've finally found out what happened in full, this from a first-hand source who was in the room for all of it, plus two others privy to the talk that took place between Pickett and Mike Tomlin, and here goes:
Pickett, as he stated above, had been preparing throughout the week as if he'd either start or not play at all. He was four weeks removed from tightrope surgery on his ankle and, as he also stated above, he hadn't received sufficient clearance from the Steelers' medical officials to start and, thus, "I wasn't going to suit up for the game."
All of that's accurate, per all three sources. Every syllable.
Upon the team's charter flight landing in Seattle the day before the game, all players, coaches and staff eventually went to Lumen Field, as is standard practice, to set themselves up in the locker room for the following day. Once there, Pickett saw that all of his equipment had been staged inside his stall as if he was to play, an instruction to the equipment managers that only could've come, directly or otherwise, from Tomlin.
Pickett, as one might imagine, was surprised. Mostly because Tomlin had already announced to media in Pittsburgh that Mason Rudolph would start. But also because, having been limited all week in practice, all concerned had presumed Mitch Trubisky would be the backup and, to repeat from Pickett above, that he "wasn't going to suit up."
So, why was his stuff hanging for him to suit up?
Questions were asked among all three quarterbacks before Pickett asked for a meeting with Tomlin for clarification. That took place without incident and it resulted in Tomlin, almost immediately, flatly declaring that Trubisky would suit up and Pickett wouldn't.
So, why would Tomlin not even list Pickett as the emergency third quarterback, a move that would've impacted nothing else?
This is where it gets a bit muddier, in that Tomlin apparently just didn't bother with it.
Tomlin's own explanation the following Tuesday was that he couldn't risk Pickett's health if he needed to be summoned in short order, anyway. But my first-hand source would elaborate that Pickett, had he been getting ready to play in any capacity, would've needed to go through a specific regimen that wouldn't have stopped at any point in the week. And, to the most powerful point of all, he'd have needed pain-killing treatment of some sort before the game itself.
"That's no fun, and you don't want to be doing it if you don't have to, for a lot of reasons," the first-hand source told me. "It was just confusion."
This source would add, of Tomlin, "He's not someone who's spent a ton of time managing quarterbacks, if you think about it. He was handed the keys to a Ferrari when he got here ..."
Ben Roethlisberger, of course.
" ... and he never really had to worry about the quarterback position. For a very long time."
That's it. That's all of it.
Can't help but wonder on my own, though, if this scenario didn't somehow influence Tomlin toward signing a veteran like Russell Wilson, a 35-year-old with nine Pro Bowl selections and a Super Bowl championship on his resume. I'll bet he's allowed to chart his own course.
• Diontae Johnson's with the Panthers because he wanted out, not because the Steelers wanted him out. He'd been mindful all of this past season about how his month lost to injury would cost him come contract time, not to mention all of the many offensive problems in general. He also saw that he wasn't about to get an extension offer here and, at age 28, which is getting up there in wide receiver years, he sought a different place where he might put up more contract-friendly figures. No animosity. No acrimony. And from the Steelers' standpoint, it was something something volunteers not hostages.
• Wilson's been informed, I'm told, that'll be part of a training camp competition with Pickett. I'll drop that here snark-free.
• There's a respectful but real doubt about Cole Holcomb's status over on South Water Street, given the awful nature of his knee injury. Because of that and because Elandon Roberts will turn 30 next month -- with hard, hard miles, to boot -- don't expect Patrick Queen to be the last starting-type inside linebacker acquired.
• Rudolph never received a contract offer from the Steelers. Not before free agency. Not after it opened.
• On a somewhat similar note, albeit transitioning to hockey, Jake Guentzel never received a contract offer from the Penguins. The talks that did occur between Kyle Dubas and Ben Hankinson, Guentzel's agent, all were preliminary in tone and all took place before this ongoing NHL season.
• To nearly the end, though, Guentzel, his family and friends, his teammates, all maintained hope that talks could start. Right up until about a week before the trade, when word spread through that little world that he'd definitely be dealt. I share this predominantly to dump on any Jake-demanded-too-much notion that might exist. It never came close to that.
• As for the just-go-bring-back-Jake-this-summer notion, I've heard two decidedly different views, both from the team perspective: One is that, yes, it's possible and, of course, legal within NHL rules. Another is that what just happened was such an ordeal for all involved that it wouldn't be a casual matter of the Penguins snapping their fingers and summoning Guentzel home.
• Mike Sullivan's not in trouble. Copy and paste.
• Henry Davis should be the Pirates' starting catcher 13 days now from now in Miami, and he'll have earned it by slashing .286/.364/.750 with four home runs in 32 plate appearances, piled on top of being sound defensively. But trust me when I share that, if he winds up succeeding behind the plate, he'll surprise more than Ben Cherington, Derek Shelton and everyone in-house. An American League scout told me he sees Davis having a great challenge sticking back there and, in turn, the Pirates having a great challenge finding another position. Guess we'll see. The scout himself told me he'd love to be wrong.
• I know Jared Jones and his 100-mph heat have everyone stoked in Bradenton, but I also know that everything I'd heard there this month strongly suggested his option will be a higher priority than who's having a hot spring.
• For anyone still fretting over Oneil Cruz, even after his five home runs and beyond-belief 1.114 OPS this spring, don't be. And know that he never was. He felt he'd checked every health box last fall, and that all this is icing.
• Roberto Clemente days till Miami. (No, I'm not losing it. He wore No. 13 for the first seven weeks of his career in 1955 because No. 21 belonged to center fielder Earl Smith.)
• Thanks for reading.
• And for listening:
