Steelers QB Kenny Pickett did not speak to media at locker clean out day

The Pittsburgh Steelers held their final media availability for players on Tuesday, and there was one player noticeably quiet. That would be quarterback — and team captain — Kenny Pickett.

It is odd to not have a captain speak at the final availability of the season, and Pickett’s decision to not speak on Tuesday will only add to speculation that he is not happy about losing his starting job at the end of the season and going into the playoffs.

The team’s first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Pitt, Pickett took over the starting job early in the 2022 season and held that spot until an ankle injury against the Arizona Cardinals this season sidelined him for several weeks.

Mitch Trubisky initially replaced him, but was benched for Mason Rudolph due to his own ineffectiveness. But when Rudolph played well in his first start against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Steelers decided to stick with him even after Pickett was healthy enough to play.

That resulted in Pickett being inactive for their Week 17 game at Seattle. Following that game there were reports that Pickett was unhappy with the decision to not reclaim his starting job and did not want to backup Rudolph.

He eventually was activated for their Week 18 game in Baltimore and was Rudolph’s backup.

The Steelers were 7-4 in games started by Pickett, but his individual numbers did not really improve from his rookie season. At least not as much as the Steelers would have hoped.

He threw just six touchdowns in his 11 starts and finished with an 81.4 passer rating that ranked 37th out of 59 quarterbacks in the NFL this season. The one thing he did extremely well was protect the football and not turn it over.

If the Steelers are going to be anymore more than a mid-level team that makes the playoffs and fails to win a game they are either going to need Pickett to dramatically improve or find an improvement at the position.