What It Means:

Pickett injured his ribs in Sunday's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers and had to exit early. Despite the short week, Tomlin said Monday that the "door is definitely ajar" for Pickett to play on Thursday night. “Probably will be a game-time-type decision, based on the information that I’m holding here today with no structural damage and so forth to his ribs,” Tomlin said. “So, we’ll see how we’ll go through the week — his ability to throw, his level of comfort, his ability of effectiveness, etc., and let that be our guide in terms of determining his availability.” Mitch Trubisky will start if Pickett is inactive, but that shouldn't have a notable impact on the offense.

Pickett averaged negative-0.20 and Trubisky averaged negative-0.19 Passing Net Expected Points per attempt in Week 8 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Trubisky targeted Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, Connor Heyward, Jaylen Warren, and Najee Harris each 4 times after replacing Pickett on Sunday.