PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Kenny Pickett said he was ready to play at the end of last week, but decided not to rush it. He will wear a special helmet on Sunday and likely going forward to try and prevent future issues. What Kenny said about his future after a pair of concussions his rookie year.
Doctors recommended that he wears the new Riddell SpeedFlex helmet which ‘reduces impact-force transfer to the player by selectively adding flexibility to key helmet components’. In simpler terms, it has more padding in certain areas that is designed to help stop concussions caused by his head hitting off the turf. That is what is determined to be the reason for his two NFL concussions.
There are various types of SpeedFlex helmets-there is a lineman version-but he said the facemask blocks part of his vision. So that one is out. The other kind, the facemask gap is too wide where Pickett said it’s big enough for a fist to go through. As he joked, ‘I don’t want to get punched in the face’, he will wear a clear visor with the latter model.
He said the helmet feels the same as previous models. He said Pat Freiermuth wears the same one and they are ‘helmet buddies’.
Pickett said this latest concussion is worse than the first one, but going through one he now knows when he is feeling better. He said he’s been fine for about a week.
“It comes with the position,” Pickett said. “It comes with playing football. It’s going to happen. I was lucky early in my career in college to really never have any concussions at all, or experiencing what I’ve experienced these past two. It happens. It’s football.”
How it went down
Pickett also was able to explain what happened during the game against Baltimore. There were a lot of rumors about why he went back in after the hit by linebacker Roquan Smith.
“I thought I was good to go, felt good,” Pickett said after he came off the field and was checked out after the play. He would throw a little on the sidelines before going back in the game.
“When I got back out there and started running and the vision started to come into play more and I’m moving and things are going fast. That’s when symptoms start to come up and I had to go inside and they ruled me out.”
“We knew what it was after I started to get back into play. It was definitely the right call to get me out and get me in protocol. I had some symptoms last week, but cleared up now and feel good to go.”
So, he did self-report, he wasn’t pulled and didn’t try to force it going back out for the second series.
Future
Pickett said he went through college and high school without dealing with a known concussion. Now he’s had two in less than two months. Is he concerned at all about his health long-term?
“No, no,” Pickett said. “I went through it with the doctors. I listened to what they said. Definitely the right call. I could have played last week. Could have pushed it, but I think the right choice was to sit out one week and be full go this week.”
Pickett goes back out with a new helmet and believing he doesn’t have to change his game.