Steelers QB Kenny Pickett Talks Trash to Everyone, Including Mike Tomlin
PITTSBURGH -- You've got to love a quarterback who isn't afraid to talk back to 350-pound defenders, but what about one who brings that smack talk back to practice? For the Pittsburgh Steelers, that's their quarterback.
Kenny Pickett had all of Acrisure Stadium fired up when he stood in the pocket to take a hit from a New York Jets defensive lineman Quinnen Williams and then proceed to stand up and say a few words to him.
"I like to have fun," Pickett said with a smile. "They’re all great players. Quinnen Williams, we were talking all game. Sometimes it looks like we’re talking smack, but sometimes we’re just having fun playing. He’s a heck of a player. I like competing against the best, so I’m excited to go play against one of the best again."
Every player has respect for one another in those moments. It's football, smack talk is part of the game. But for the Steelers, they needed a "spark" after a slow start to the season. Pickett came in and rushed for two touchdowns and starred down a man twice his size after taking a big hit. That's a serious spark.
"When you start a game, getting that first shot, I don’t know, it feels good," Pickett said about the hit from Williams. "You know you’re ready to play. ... I’m competitive. I’m not the nicest guy, so I like to say some stuff, but it’s all good. I like to compete. I think the first hit definitely makes you feel good and you’re ready to go."
That trash doesn't come from a place of anger or disrespect. Pickett made it very clear he's got love for everyone on the field, but he's going to bring some grit with him when he's out there.
He even does it at practice. But instead of talking to the defense, he talks to head coach Mike Tomlin.
"We would go back and forth," Pickett said about his trash talk with the coach. "If they made a good play, he would chirp at me a little bit. If I made a big play, I wouldn’t hear him too much, so I’d ask if he was at practice that day. It was great. It was a great atmosphere to compete."
Tomlin fires everyone up with some words of encouragement, if that's what you'd like to call it. Pickett isn't excluded, but he does have fun with it. Something that stems from his love for the game - and love to play with an edge.
"I love to play," Pickett said. "I grew up playing defense. I just love to play the game. I was taught to play that way, I was raised to play that way and it carried into how I play quarterback once I focused on the quarterback position. So, I just kind of carried that aspect of both sides of the ball from my dad when I’m playing on offense."
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