Oct 21, 2022 5 min read

Should he or shouldn’t he play?

That’s the question many are asking about Steelers rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett after he exited last week’s 20-18 upset win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after taking a shot from linebacker Devin White.

Pickett immediately went into the league’s concussion protocol, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he suffered a concussion.

Per the league’s concussion protocols, teams can hold a player out of action – and should hold a player out of action – even if he is “able to equal or exceed their performance on the Locker Room Comprehensive Concussion Assessment compared to their baseline level.” That’s straight from the NFL’s concussion protocol manual.

That’s important to note, especially with the league in a heightened state of awareness regarding concussions following Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa being cleared to return four days after taking a big hit a few weeks ago and then suffering a concussion that knocked him out in a loss to the Bengals.

The NFL is on high alert after that PR nightmare.

That’s why it was interesting this week that Mike Tomlin immediately announced that while his team’s quarterback was in concussion protocol, he had been fully cleared to practice this week and would start Sunday against the Dolphins if he passes through concussion protocol by week’s end.

A player can be placed into the league’s concussion protocol without actually having a concussion. There are also differing degrees of concussions.

The one Tagovailoa suffered was obviously bad. He admitted this week that he lost consciousness.

That never happened with Pickett. He was immediately cleared to return to full practice, meaning his symptoms – if any – were beyond mild if present at all.

The Steelers don’t take that lightly. In recent weeks, Terrell Edmunds, Pat Freiermuth and Levi Wallace each were held out of games after suffering concussions.

If the Steelers felt there was any danger – any more than usual – that Pickett was setting himself up for further damage, he wouldn’t have practiced this week at all.

To suggest otherwise is ridiculous.

• How big was last week’s win by the Steelers? Realize that, according to Football Outsiders, the Steelers have played the second-toughest schedule in the NFL to this point.

The strength of schedule for the remainder of the season is 13th. And it will be even lighter than that in two weeks, after the Steelers play the Eagles. There remain a bunch of winnable games in the final nine weeks of the regular season.

That’s why the talk a couple of weeks ago about the Steelers having the first pick in the draft was beyond ridiculous.

• Safety Damontae Kazee, who was out since the start of the season with a fractured forearm, returned to practice this week and will be designated to return from the Reserve/Injured List. T.J. Watt will soon follow in the next week or so.

And last week, the Steelers actually won a game without Watt, the first time in his career they’ve done so in a game he missed.

This week’s games

Steelers (plus 7) at Dolphins: The Dolphins have lost their past three games and not scored more than 17 points in any of them. Yes, Tagovailoa didn’t start two of those games, but the Dolphins can’t run the ball. The Steelers have gotten healthier on defense – especially on the back end. And Miami’s defense has been bad, especially in the secondary. Another upset for the Steelers this week? Why not? Take the Steelers, 24-20

Browns (plus 6½) at Ravens: Pro Football Focus had Browns defensive end Myles Garrett graded as the highest performer in the NFL last week in a game in which the Browns allowed 399 yards and 38 points in a loss to Bailey Zappe and the Patriots. Sounds about right. The wheels are officially coming off in Cleveland, where Jacoby Brissett is turning into a pumpkin. Take the Ravens, 27-16

Falcons (plus 6½) at Bengals: The Bengals just allowed the Saints to run all over them – though they found a way to win the game. Now, they face a Falcons team that wants to do nothing but run the ball and shorten the game. This has backdoor cover written all over it, especially with Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson out. Take the Falcons to cover in a 26-20 loss

Buccaneers (minus 11) over Panthers: Things are bad in Carolina. Really bad. The Bucs should be angry after getting upset by the Steelers last week. Look for Tom Brady and company to take out their frustrations on the NFL’s worst team. Take the Bucs, 34-13

Lions (plus 7) at Cowboys: Dallas gets quarterback Dak Prescott back for this game after going 4-1 with Cooper Rush at the helm. The Lions are coming off a bye, but unless they fixed the defense and figured out Jared Goff’s awful home-road splits, this looks like a loss. Take the Cowboys, 31-20

Last Week 2-3 ATS; 2-3 straight up.

Overall: 12-16-2 ATS; 16-14 straight up.