LATROBE, PA (93.7 The Fan) – Not a participant in the team's inaugural seven shots drills Thursday, rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett said he's looking forward to an opportunity. Pickett remains the Steelers third-string quarterback through the first couple of practices.
"Two days in, you want to be perfect, but you are never going to be," Pickett said. "I'm learning the system. First time really throwing with a lot of these guys consistently. It's not going to be perfect the first couple of days, we will keep getting better as it goes."
Pickett's opportunities have been with new faces or guys he hasn't had a lot of time with. He's thrown an interception each day so far, but hasn't seemed phased by mistakes, especially right now.
"I got to learn from it and move on," Pickett said. "Both plays I can learn from and I did. Took what I needed from it and it's done with it. There are a lot of left in camp, we are only in day three."
"Obviously Kenny is super-talented, super-great guy, ultra-competitive," Steelers Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada told 93.7 The Fan Friday. "I've enjoyed him since I started recruiting him (while working at Pitt). Everything about him is great. He has good plays and bad plays, just like Mitch and Mason have."
Canada added there is something about him that he really appreciates for a guy just a few days into a professional training camp.
"His desire to learn," Canada told The Fan. "His leadership skills, or how he does it, is a little bit different than the other two. Even as a rookie, he has his way of getting with guys and I think the players have responded to him and enjoy being around him."
He has noted the intensity of practice is more than it was in mini-camp or OTAs and he expects it to be even more so when the full pads come on this Monday.
Special autograph
Captured on Steelers social media, Pickett was signing autographs after practice. That is not unusual. How a boy reacted was.
"He was crying, I hoped they were happy tears," Pickett said with a smile. "It felt weird having a little guy crying in front of you, I was hoping it was all for a good reason."
"It's really special, you never know how much you can impact someone's life. Obviously, that was a huge moment. I'm grateful for the support and the fans, obviously I hope I made his day."
