With Kenny Pickett out for Week 14 after undergoing ankle surgery, Mitch Trubisky will be behind center when the Steelers play the Patriots on Thursday night.
While Trubisky has appeared in three games this season, Thursday will be his first start of 2023.
“Anytime you get on the field, it’s a great opportunity,” Trubisky said Tuesday, via Dale Lolley of the Steelers’ website. “So, I’m looking forward to this for sure.”
While Pittsburgh put together a solid offensive showing in the Week 12 victory over Cincinnati, the club managed just 10 points in Sunday’s loss to Arizona. Trubisky said he’s going to look for some more downfield shots against New England this week.
“We’re trying to score points,” Trubisky said. “I’m going to be aggressive. I’m going to take care of the football, and we’ve got to play better as an offense. We’re going against a good defense this week that is well-coached. So, we’ve got to do our job and execute.
“We want to be an aggressive offense. So whatever that means, taking care of football, we got to find ways to score points. That’s the bottom line.”
The Steelers fired former offensive coordinator Matt Canada after losing to the Browns 13-10 in Week 12. The team has yet to reach 30 points in a single game this season and has finished with fewer than 20 points seven times.
Still, the team is 7-5 and looking to solidify its postseason position with five games remaining.
So Trubisky wants to walk that proverbial “fine line” of trying to get the ball down the field and score while taking care of the football.
“I think you can ask any quarterback that you want to be aggressive, but if you’re too safe with the football, you’re not going to move it,” Trubisky said. “So, you’ve got to know what you can do. And you always have got to take care of football. But sometimes you’ve just got to believe in yourself that you can make the throws to move the ball down the field and score points.”
This season, Trubisky has completed 29-of-49 passes for 273 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Last year, he completed 65 percent of his throws for 1,252 yards with four touchdowns and five picks in seven games.