Pittsburgh Steelers Quarterback Kenny Pickett was the most recent guest on teammate Cam Heyward's podcast, Not Just Football with Cam Heyward. Pickett talked about how he turned his season around in 2022, including receiving some advice from an unlikely source.
Photo Credit: Pittsburgh Post Gazette
By all accounts, Pickett had a rough start to his rookie season. He took over for Mitch Trubisky in Week 4 against the Jets. Initially, Trusbisky had been slated to be under center to give the rookie Pickett a chance to get comfortable. Trubisky wasn't getting it done and at halftime, Head Coach Mike Tomlin made the decision to bench him and start the young QB.
During his first five games, Pickett threw eight interceptions to only three touchdowns. After the bye week, he only had one interception in the last eight games to four touchdowns. He also led multiple game-winning drives including ones necessary to keep playoff hopes alive towards the end of the season against the Baltimore Ravens and Las Vegas Raiders.
Steelers Pickett Names Surprising Source of Advice
Heyward and his co-host Hayden Walsh asked Pickett about that evaluation and what helped him improve. Pickett said that he felt that he was playing catch up just a little bit. Since he wasn't the original starting QB, he did not take all the first-team reps during training camp and preseason. He felt that impacted his initial progress.
Photo Credit: Steelers.com
Pickett said he just wanted to find a way to win, at all costs, whatever he had to do to make it happen. He said that he found that he was especially struggling with the two-minute drills during practice.
"I was always trying to hunt that big play instead of letting the big play come to me," Pickett said.
Friday afternoons, Pickett recalled, all the players were happy to be heading into the weekend and he would be angry because the offense had lost to the defense during the two minutes drills. He said that quarterbacks coach, Mike Sullivan, offensive coordinator, Matt Canada, and defensive assistant/linebacker coach, Brian Flores, were all a huge factor in his improvement, working with him on that two-minute drill.
Pickett said that Flores, "Coach Flo," was really the unsung hero in that trifecta. Heyward expressed surprise that a defensive coach, and one as decorated as Flores, is helping the rookie quarterback improve. However, Pickett swears that he made a big difference.
Pittsburgh Steelers senior defensive assistant Brian Flores works with the defense as they go through drills during practice at NFL football training camp in Latrobe, Pa., on Aug. 8, 2022. Flores will make his return to South Florida Sunday night, Oct. 23, 2022, when the Steelers face the Miami Dolphins. Flores was fired by the Dolphins in January and later filed a lawsuit against the NFL, the Dolphins and two other teams. (Keith Srakocic / Associated Press)
One thing that Pickett said was an adjustment is that two minutes in the pros is not equal to two minutes in college. In college, the clock stops in between plays so it feels like you have tons of time. In the pros, with the clock running, you have to manage that drive much differently.
"You need that one-chunk play and after you get that chunk play you should be good to just take what they give you until down into the red zone and then you gotta make that big-time throw to score," Pickett recalled Flores telling him.
Flores, according to Pickett, was able to present the information in such a way that it "clicked" with him. Heyward called Flores the "puppeteer" behind Pickett's improvement.
You know what they say about it taking a village. At the end of the day what matters is that Pickett was able to make those adjustments and improve. The ability to be able to better see the field and make those plays versus trying to force plays helped the offense find some rhythm and success. Pickett is a well-known hard worker and there is little doubt he will do everything he can during the offseason to continue to improve.
What do you think of Flores helping Pickett? Are you surprised by that? Do you think Flores will still be with the Steelers next season? What do you think Pickett needs to work on the most this offseason? Comment below.
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