What It Means:

Pickett underwent successful surgery on Monday after suffering an ankle sprain in Sunday's 24-10, Week 13 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He will not play on Thursday night versus the New England Patriots in Week 14, but the Steelers expect Pickett to return before the end of the season. Mitchell Trubisky, who replaced Pickett versus the Cardinals, will start on Thursday in a tough matchup. The Steelers will likely try to rely on the run game even more without Pickett under center.

Pickett completed 7 of 10 pass attempts for 70 yards before exiting early on Sunday. Trubisky went 11 of 17 for 117 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions, but more than half of the production came in garbage time. The Patriots are allowing the sixth-fewest FanDuel points per game to quarterbacks this season.