Mike Tomlin expects 'football justice' to prevail, Kenny Pickett to rebound from Steelers' loss

When Kenny Pickett endured some of the worst starts of his rookie season in 2022, he had a bye week to make the required corrections.

Pickett doesn’t have the luxury this week — just one extra day of practice — as the Pittsburgh Steelers prepare for their Week 2 matchup against the Cleveland Browns on Monday night.

Still, coach Mike Tomlin is confident the second-year quarterback can make quick adjustments on the heels of his least effective performance since last October.

“There’s football justice,” Tomlin said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “When you work at it, you generally get good things that come out of it. This is a guy who is fully committed. This is a guy who works his tail off. Largely, those guys create their own fortune. That is my general tenor about the trajectory of him and his career.”

Pickett completed 31 of 46 passes for 232 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in the Steelers’ 30-7 loss against San Francisco. He doubled the number of interceptions he threw in the second half of last season, and Pickett’s 68.4 passer rating was his lowest since October when he had 66.2 and 66.9 ratings in losses to Miami and Philadelphia.

Because of his work ethic, Pickett was named a team captain — the only one to represent the offense — in just his first full season as a starter.

“It’s reasonable to expect guys that work the way he works and prepare the way he prepares to bounce back from a negative performance,” Tomlin said.

Pickett was sacked five times and absorbed nine hits against the 49ers. On the first series of the game, Pickett was sacked for a 10-yard loss and his head hit the grass after he landed on his shoulder.

Pickett played on, and Tomlin said the independent spotter never relayed concerns about a potential concussion on the play. Pickett sustained two concussions within an eight-game span in his rookie season.

“There are so many protocols in place now,” he said. “I’d imagine the quarterback position has less of my eyes directly than it used to because of that. I didn’t have direct eyes on it, but I saw it after. There was no hesitancy from the independent medical experts. He didn’t express any symptoms relative to that play, so it was a non-discussion for us.”

Roster moves

With Diontae Johnson unlikely to play Monday night, the Steelers added a wide receiver to the practice squad.

Jacob Copeland, an undrafted free agent who spent time with Tennessee and Minnesota in training camp, was signed and becomes the third wide receiver on the practice squad. The others are Dez Fitzpatrick and Simi Fehoko.

Copeland spent four years in college at Florida and one at Maryland.

To make room for Copeland, the Steelers cut running back Greg Bell and cornerback Luq Barcoo from the practice squad.