Many assumed that Mitch Trubisky was benched by the Steelers in Week 4 because of his poor performance to start the 2022 NFL season.
That wasn’t, however, the only thing that prompted Pittsburgh to thrust first-round rookie Kenny Pickett into action against the Jets.
Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Trubisky had a blow-up with his No. 1 receiver Diontae Johnson in the locker room at halftime of the Steelers’ Week 4 loss to the Jets. Trubisky was benched after that confrontation.
According to sources, Johnson began yelling at Trubisky to throw him the ball more, even though Johnson had a pass skip off his hands that resulted in an interception and failed to get his feet inbounds on what would have been a 23-yard touchdown in the first half. Trubisky stood up to Johnson and a heated exchange occurred. That’s when Pickett was told he would start the second half.
It’s easy to understand why Trubisky would be a bit miffed at Johnson, who has struggled at times with drops throughout his career. That said, Johnson had entered that contest as Pittsburgh’s leading receiver and had largely been a consistent threat for Trubisky before his mistakes against the Jets.
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It’s also easy to understand why coach Mike Tomlin elected to roll with Pickett after that. Perhaps Johnson was out of line, but Trubisky’s performance through three-and-a-half games had not been good enough to warrant staying on the field.
Mitch Trubisky stats in first four games
| Comp. % | Passing yards | Pass TDs | INTs | Passer rating |
| 59.5 | 653 | 2 | 2 | 73.7 |
That said, Trubisky performed well in Week 6 after relieving Pickett, who suffered a concussion. He completed 9 of 12 passes for 144 yards and threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Chase Claypool.
However, it’s worth noting that only one of his 12 passes went to Johnson. Trubisky treated Claypool as his No. 1 receiver.
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Even still, Trubisky spoke well of his teammates battling through “up-and-downs” after the Steelers’ surprising 20-18 victory over the Buccaneers.
“It feels good to win just as a team, to show my teammates what I’m capable of,” he said. “But I think the best part is just seeing their joy and excitement after a hard-fought victory like that. We’ve had some up-and-downs the last couple weeks, but to have that feeling, that’s what you chase every single week.”
So, perhaps Trubisky and Johnson have made up. If that’s the case, then it’s worth wondering whether Tomlin will return to his original plan to start Trubisky all year and give Pickett time to develop.
At the very least, Trubisky will start in Week 7 if Pickett can’t clear the NFL’s concussion protocol. That game against the Dolphins will be a good test for him and will be a good barometer of whether his tiff with Johnson is ongoing or long over.
Tomlin, for one, doesn’t think it will be an issue. He wouldn’t even confirm whether it had happened when asked about it at a Tuesday news conference.
“Do you think that I would share it with you in this environment? Probably not,” Tomlin said, per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “Our business is our business and I understand in today’s climate, oftentimes there’s leaks, our business getting the street. But I’m not gonna acknowledge it or confirm it or deny it in these settings I’m just not, I ain’t got enough hours of my day for it.
“The things that happen among competitors from time to time is normal business. Everyone wants to win. If it transpired, it’s good. It probably means there’s a couple of guys that wanted to win. If it didn’t transpire, it probably means that it should have because we are aggressively pursuing victory. Sometimes that’s emotional.”
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