Quarterback Kenny Pickett hasn’t had much time to digest the change in Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinators, the shift from Matt Canada to the Eddie Faulkner-Sullivan duo.
The rhythm of the NFL schedule hasn’t permitted it.
On Wednesday, a day after Steelers coach Mike Tomlin fired Canada following 44 games as offensive coordinator, Pickett was back at work getting ready for the team’s game Sunday at the Cincinnati Bengals.
The information was being relayed by Faulkner, the running backs coach turned interim offensive coordinator, and Sullivan, the quarterbacks coach who will call the plays Sunday. Otherwise, it was business as usual.
“We don’t really have time to talk about it,” Pickett said Wednesday. “You have another game coming up. We found out about it on Tuesday, we had practice today. You talk about it for 15 minutes and get back to work and figure out how we’re going to win the game this week.”
Canada, who helped recruit Pickett to Pitt in 2016, was the only offensive coordinator Pickett had known since he was selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 2022 draft. Likewise, Sullivan is his only quarterbacks coach.
“You hate to see it,” Pickett said. “You don’t want to see one of your coaches lose their job. We all have to be better. I called coach and wished him well. We had a great conversation. You have to bounce back quick and get ready for Cincinnati.”
Mason Rudolph, the only Steelers passer who predates Canada’s arrival in 2020 as quarterbacks coach, also reached out to the embattled coordinator after his abrupt firing.
“He was my first quarterbacks coach,” said Rudolph, who didn’t have a dedicated position coach his first two seasons with the Steelers. “I was very grateful to have a position coach, and Matt was good. We had a good relationship. Anytime you’re with somebody for three years, you respect him, and I enjoyed our time together.”
For the final seven weeks of the regular season, Pickett will work even more closely with Sullivan than ever before. Sullivan joined the Steelers in 2021 when Canada was promoted to offensive coordinator.
“I’m with him more than any of my family members, truthfully,” Pickett said. “It’s nice to have that kind of relationship with a coach.”
Faulkner and Sullivan ran their first offensive meeting Wednesday, and not much changed from when the team was last together Monday for film review, Pickett said.
“You can’t have wholesale changes at this point,” he said. “We’re going to run the system we’ve been using. Coach Sully and Coach Faulk are going to put their wrinkle in and run what they want to run.”
The offensive coaching duo will be tasked with improving an offense that continues to rank No. 28 in yards and points per game after a 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns. It was the sixth time in 10 games that the Steelers (6-4) scored one offensive touchdown or fewer.
“It’s a challenge to everybody,” Pickett said. “You have to take it personally. It’s a guy you’ve worked with since I was drafted here. You want to play great; you don’t want to see someone get let go like that. We have to the answer the bell, find out what we need to do to play better and take care of business.”
Pickett believes it is a positive that the Steelers, in their first game without Canada calling the plays, will go on the road to face a division rival in the 5-5 Bengals.
“It’s great to go into an environment where it’s you and your guys against everybody else,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to turn this thing around offensively and get on the same page.”
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at jrutter@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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Kenny Pickett hated to see Matt Canada lose job, but quickly shifts focus to next Steelers challenge - TribLIVE
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