Steelers coach Mike Tomlin won’t say who his starting quarterback is, if he knows. Mitch Trubisky knows he believes it should be him.
“I feel confident with where I’m at,” Trubisky told reporters after Sunday’s preseason finale. “I feel confident with where I’m at and our overall developing as an offense. So I feel confident, and I’m excited to see where we go from here.”
Why does he think he should be the guy?
“I think I’ve just shown I can run this offense, I can lead this offense, and I have what it takes to help this team win games,” Trubisky said.
For his part, Pickett is patient and flexible. He said that he was always on standby during preseason games, and he’ll remain on standby until he hears from Tomlin. “Whatever job I get, I’ll be the best at it,” Pickett said.
He nevertheless made it clear that he wants to play. And the fans chanting his name on Sunday made it clear they want him to play, too.
The reality is that it’s always easier to go from the veteran to the first-round rookie than from the first-round rookie to the veteran. So it makes sense to let Trubisky get the season started, with rookie Kenny Pickett ready to go in the event of injury or ineffectiveness.
And if Trubisky is ineffective, those chants of Pickett’s name will only get louder.