Pitt's Kenny Pickett recovering from shoulder injury
Kenny Pickett may replace those headphones he wore last week with something more familiar when Pitt visits Duke on Saturday — a football helmet.
There is no definitive word yet from coach Pat Narduzzi on Pickett’s status, but the junior quarterback was working at the start of practice Tuesday and throwing passes normally after he sat out the nonconference Delaware game last Saturday with a shoulder injury.
Pickett left the Central Florida game the week before in the third quarter after he fell on his shoulder, but he returned to lead the game-winning drive against UCF and score the decisive touchdown on the now-famous Pitt Special play. A week later, he was replaced in the starting lineup by redshirt freshman Nick Patti, who threw two touchdown passes in his first collegiate start to help beat Delaware, 17-14.
Patti’s performance — he completed 23 of 37 passes for 271 yards — will give Narduzzi peace of mind for the remainder of the season. But Pickett is the unquestioned leader of the offense.
In his second full season as the starter, Pickett has completed 107 of 175 passes, is second in the ACC in aerial yards per game (275.5) and fifth in the nation in completed passes per game (26.8).
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Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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