Steelers' Cam Heyward Warns Kenny Pickett To Not Get Too Aggressive After Savage Hit By The Bills' Shaq Lawson

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Kenny Pickett from the University of Pittsburgh with their first pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Pickett's drafting comes on the heels of future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger retiring after 18 years in Pittsburgh. One of the things that fans and the organization love about Pickett is his passionate nature, but sometimes that passion leads to trouble. 

The initial plan wasn't to start Pickett, the Steelers had also picked up Mitch Trubisky during the offseason and he won the starting role in training camp. However, after three and a half games, Head Coach Mike Tomlin had enough, and Trubisky was benched at halftime during Week 4 and the rookie was brought in. 

Pickett got a bit of a baptism by fire his first few weeks, and the team struggled. However, not much was more painful to watch than his first time as a starter, Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo. The Steelers lost that game, 38-3. 

It is no secret that when frustrations run high, players can get emotional. This kind of blowout tends to make players very chippy, after all, they are competitors and no one wants to lose. Now Pickett is retelling what happened during his first game as a starter. 

Steelers' Kenny Pickett vs Bills' Shaq Lawson

Current Steelers defensive tackle, Cam Heyward, hosts a podcast called Not Just Football With Cam Heyward. Cam and his co-host Hayden Walsh did a special 2023 NFL Draft edition of the podcast from Kansas City and had Pickett join them. Heyward asked Pickett about that game in Buffalo and one incident in particular.

"Alright, let's fast forward, Week 5, I don't like to bring up these moments, we lost that game to the Bills," says Heyward." But we got to see a different side of Kenny. You know you go against a guy in Shaq Lawson, who's six-foot-three-inches, 265 pounds. As a defender, when a quarterback comes at me, I want to bury him. I want to take advantage of a small quarterback, you're not a small quarterback anymore. So take us through that moment when you were thinking about fighting Shaq Lawson when he gave you a little bit after the play."

Pickett was laughing as he recalled the incident. 

"I didn't really think too much, it's just kind of a reaction, you know we were getting whooped. I wasn't too happy. I wasn't too happy with the hit, it's football, that happens, but I just think I play with a little bit of an edge and you know sometimes, it happens." 

While Pickett didn't go into much detail about the hit, it happened during the fourth quarter. The Steelers were already losing badly and trying desperately to get back in the game. Pickett scrambled under the constant pressure of the Bills' defense. He finally threw the ball away, but Lawson came in and appeared to tackle Pickett late and low. 

Pickett was clearly unhappy about the hit. He jumped up and shoved Lawson down and a bit of a scuffle began with other players jumping in. The refs never flagged Lawson for his dirty hit, but they did penalize Pickett for unnecessary roughness. The refs also ejected Bills defensive end AJ Epenesa who got involved. 

Walsh asked Heyward what advice he gives a young player like Pickett, wondering if he warns him against fighting a vet like Lawson. Heyward said he had to deliver this message to several quarterbacks. 

"I feel like I've had to say this to a lot of my quarterbacks because we've gotten in a lot of fights over the years. i.e. Mason when we went to Cleveland, but that's a totally different story. I like the fire, I like getting into it, but that's in practice. We're not doing this in the game. I need you all four quarters, for every single game, so stay out of the way and let the big folks take care of that, you got it?"

What did you think about Lawson's hit on Pickett? Did you think it was late? Do you like Pickett's passion and fire? Click to comment below. 

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