PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – When he left Acrisure Stadium after he was benched for Kenny Pickett a couple of weeks ago, Mitch Trubisky was upset. He didn’t agree with the decision to be replaced just three and a half games into his Steelers career. He dealt with it and Sunday, after Pickett left with concussion, added to the lead and sealed a 20-18 win over Tampa Bay.
Trubisky said he had a 24-hour rule about getting pulled. He knew he was voted captain and had to handle himself in a certain way.
“He came in the next day smiling,” said tailback Najee Harris. “Adversity comes with the sport, no one wants to have it. We believe in all of them. Mitch came in & stepped up. Mitch came in & did what he did, we’re not surprised.”
“It feels good,” Trubisky said after the game Sunday. “Honestly, it feels good to win as a team and to show my teammates what I’m capable of. I think the best part is just seeing their joy and excitement after a hard-fought victory like that.”
Trubisky was booed the last time at home and you could feel the air out of the stadium when Pickett went down.
Trubisky completed a couple of passes after entering, but unable to get a first down. You could hear the grumbling in the stands and then the next possession was a three-and-out. Imagine the pressure.
The veteran said he stayed confident, admitting he probably was a little more relaxed than he was as a starter.
“When you kind of get thrown in there,” Trubisky said. “You might be thinking a little less, just going out and playing free. I know what I had to do for my team. I studied as if I was the starter and prepared that way. I wanted to be aggressive, play free & everyone rallied together.”
Trubisky would throw the first touchdown to a receiver this year hitting Chase Claypool from 6-yards out early in the fourth quarter as part of a 71-yard drive. Then after the Bucs cut the lead to two points with 4:45 to play, he knew he needed to make some plays.
On the second play of the drive, a bad snap in the shotgun that Trubisky was able to fall on. It went from second and two to third and 15. Trubisky completed a 17-yard pass to Claypool. Again, a negative play as he ran for minus four yards. On third and 11, he hit Claypool for 26 yards down the sidelines. He would run for nine yards on the next play to set up the game-sealing first down.
Trubisky finished nine of 12 for 144 yards, a touchdown, no turnovers and a 142.4 quarterback rating.
“I liked our aggressive mindset in the second half and especially when I came in,” Trubisky said. “I just wanted to carry that. I knew we needed to score to stay out in front. It was nice to stay on the field and get those victory kneels. I came in with an aggressive mindset, all my teammates had my back. We just kind of rallied together and pulled it out as a team.”
“He’s ready for the moment,” said Steelers captain Cam Heyward. “When things aren’t going well. You get Kenny in, Kenny gets hurt and he has to step up. We’ve always talked about next man up. I know it hasn’t been easy on Mitch, but when we needed big plays, he was up for it.”
“Mitch started the season with that, so we had that confidence in him, that timing with him,” Claypool said. “So, it wasn’t like we had to figure things out. We were calling the same plays. Hats off to him because he was very poised, and he did his thing.”
“I was ready to go, and in those situations, you just have to be ready when your number is called,” Trubisky said. “I just wanted to come in and help the team win, anyway I could. I wanted to come in, do my role, lead the guys. Everybody stuck together & they had my back when I came in as well. It was fun to see we all kind of rallied around. It was a big-time win.”
“It shows resiliency,” Heyward said. “It’s easy to get lost in it. It’s easy to pass the baton off and just say this is Kenny’s shot and I have to deal with that. I can’t speak enough to Mitch stepping up in the moment. We rally around our quarterbacks. We know it’s not an easy situation for Mitch, Mason, Kenny. They competed their butts off. I thought Mitch showed a great professionalism.”
“We’ve had some ups-and-downs the last couple of weeks,” Trubisky said. “To have that feeling, that’s what you chase every single week. Hopefully it continues to pull us together.”