Steelers news: Kenny Pickett to start vs Raiders, Mike Tomlin on team discipline, and more

Mike Tomlin held his weekly press conference on Tuesday and he shed some light on the state of the Pittsburgh Steelers entering Week 16. 

Even with a win against the Panthers, the Pittsburgh Steelers are highly unlikely to make the playoffs this year. However, that certainly won’t stop fans from tuning into a highly anticipated primetime matchup this week. Mike Tomlin’s team is set to host the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas Eve for the 50th anniversary of The Immaculate Reception.

There isn’t a lot riding on this game, but how Pittsburgh performs down the stretch could prove to be a sign of things to come in 2023. Fortunately, we have some excellent Steelers news to share with you this Wednesday regarding the health of this team.

Steelers news

Mike Tomlin held his press conference on Tuesday afternoon, and shed light on the health of his players. After missing the Week 15 contest against the Panthers, Kenny Pickett is on track to start against the Raiders on December 24th. Tomlin noted that Pickett should be a full-go in practice as he has officially cleared concussion protocol.

This is excellent news for a team looking for hope. Even if Pittsburgh can’t pull off a miracle to sneak into the playoffs, at least they will get to see their first-round pick and potential franchise quarterback in action over the final three games. In addition to Pickett, Tomlin noted some minor injuries to Diontae Johnson (toe), Terrell Edmunds (hamstring), and Derek Watt (ankle), but all three players are expected to suit up on Christmas Eve.

More Steelers news

After getting penalized for a pair of taunting calls against the Panthers, it was no surprise to see the media ask Tomlin about this in his Week 16 press conference. However, the Steelers head coach refused to indulge them — saying that “I’ll leave that in-house,” and that “I’m not going to give you the pound of flesh you are looking for.”

This comment mostly pointed to head-scratching penalties involving Marcus Allen and Diontae Johnson. Allen admitted that he received an earful from Tomlin following his decision to enter the Panthers huddle on Sunday.  Tomlin insisted that he’s dealing with the issue, but that he is going to do so internally.

NFL news

Even with a comfortable win over the Panthers in Week 15, it didn’t do much for Steelers as far as their positioning in NFL power rankings. According to Dan Hanzus of NFL.com, Pittsburgh bumped up just two spots from 24th to 22nd with the win. This puts them just below the Seattle Seahawks and one spot above the disappointing Tampa Bay Buccaneers.