“FirstCall”forTuesdaylooksathowallthosequarterbackinjuriesovertheweekendmayimpactthe Pittsburgh Steelers.
AformerPittstandoutisdealingwithaninjuryofhisown.AnewSteelerscoutstheirupcomingopponentinthepocketthisweek.
AndGeorgePickenshasacuriousquote.
QBcarnage
Week2ofthe2025seasonwasademolitionderbyforquarterbacks.Fivenotablestarterssufferedinjuries.
Two of those injured starters may be absent for upcoming Steelers games.
All of these QBs are injured, and we're not even finished with Week 2 ????
- Joe Burrow (turf toe)
- Jayden Daniels (knee)
- J.J. McCarthy (ankle)
- Justin Fields (concussion)
- Brock Purdy (turf toe) pic.twitter.com/f0CMU6yKEh— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) September 15, 2025
CincinnatiBengalsQBJoeBurrowneedssurgeryonhisinjuredtoe.Hemaybeoutforthreemonths,accordingtoESPN’sAdamSchefter.TheSteelersareonCincy’sscheduletwicewithinthatwindow,onceonOct.16andagainNov.16.
JakeBrowningtookoverforBurrowonSunday.Hetossedtwotouchdownsandthreeinterceptionsenroutetoa31-27winoverJacksonvilleinrelief.
AsforJ.J.McCarthy,ESPN.com’sKevinSeifertreportshe’llbeoutatleasttwoweekswithahighanklespraininMinnesota.Ifthat’sthecase,he’llmisstheVikingsgameinIrelandagainsttheSteelers.
Shouldthatbethecase,CarsonWentzisnextonthedepthchartfortheVikings.
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Banged-upBuc
SpeakingofNFLinjuries,CalijahKanceydidn’t make it throughthe “MondayNightFootball”gameinHouston.HisBuccaneersendedupbeatingtheTexans20-19.
However,theformerPittstarleftthegameinthefirsthalfwithapectoralinjury.AccordingtotheNFLNetwork’sMikeGarafolo,theex-PanthersdefensivelinemanwillhaveanMRItodetermineiftheinjuryisjustastrainoratear.
Ifthemuscleistorn,he’lllikelyneedseason-endingsurgery.
The #Buccaneers are hoping DT Calijah Kancey suffered a muscle strain rather than a tendon tear. The former would be a shorter absence. The latter would mean surgery and likely end Kancey's season. MRI back in Tampa will tell the full story. https://t.co/zxwAN7gDSL
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) September 16, 2025
Overhisfirsttwoseasons,Canceymissedatotalofeightgames because of injuries.Buthehasalsoregistered54tackles,11.5sacksand21tacklesforaloss.
PickensonPickett
DallasCowboysreceiverGeorgePickensdidn’texactlyshoweroneofhisformerSteelersquarterbackswithpraise.
SpeakingwithJosinaAndersonafterDallas’40-37overtimewin SundayagainsttheDallasCowboys,Pickensexplainedwhyhe’shappytobewiththeCowboys.
“ThelastplaceIwasat(Pittsburgh),justcominginwithagroupofguys — who(were)goodguys,butwereallrookies,gotarookieQB — soIcouldn’treallythriveandshowtheworldthepotentialIhave,”Pickenssaid.“Ihadtowaitafewyears,andtheniteventuallyshowed.IgettotheCowboys,andthen(Sunday),Igettoshowitagain,andwewin.”
That’salittlerevisionisthistoryfromPickens.Yes,hecameintotheleaguewithPickettin2022.ButhealsoplayedplentyofgameswithveteranquarterbacksRussellWilson,JustinFields,MasonRudolphandMitchTrubisky.
Now,though,playingwithDakPrescott,PickensseemstobehappierthanhewasbytheendofhisstayinPittsburgh.
Pickenscaughtfivepassesfor68yardsandatouchdowninthegame.
George Pickens for the lead!!!
NYGvsDAL on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVntpic.twitter.com/UOUi7QlsRu
— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025
Thatwasanimprovementonhisthree-catch,30-yardeffortinPhiladelphialastweek.
Advancedscoutingreport
AstheSteelersgetreadytofaceNewEngland onSunday,they’llbepreparingtofacePatriotsquarterbackDrakeMayeforthefirsttime.Mayewasthethirdoverallpickoflastyear’sNFLdraft.
NewSteelerscornerbackBrandinEcholswasontheNewYorkJetslastyear.HisteamfacedMayeandthePatriotstwice,althoughtheirexposuretotheNorthCarolinaproductwaslimited.
Inthefirstmeetingbetweentheclubs,theJetsbeatNewEngland24-3inWeek3of2024.MayemadehisNFLdebut,butnotuntillateinthefourthquarterasareplacementforJacobyBrissett.
Mayewent4-8for22yards.Heabsorbedtwosacksalongtheway.
Drake Maye's first career completion goes to Kayshon Boutte pic.twitter.com/efZJHUhdVl
— Ben Brown ???? (@BenBrownPL) September 20, 2024
Fiveweekslater,MayeandthePatriotsbeattheJetsintherematch,25-22.However,Mayegotknockedoutwithaconcussionafterjustsixpassingattempts.
Here's that hit Drake Maye took to the head.#Patriotspic.twitter.com/R1EL4B0L7a
— Henry McKenna (@henrycmckenna) October 27, 2024
“He’sgotalotofupside.Hecanusehislegs.Heispersistentthrowingtheball,continuingtolookdownthefieldforhisreceivers,”Echolssaid.“Youcantellhe’sgotalittlehungertohim.We’vegottorespecthim,makesurewecomeinandattackhimandforcehimtoplayquarterback.”
TheSteelersare1-7all-timeatGilletteStadium.ThiswillbetheirfirstgametheresinceTomBradyretired.Theirlastgametherewasa33-3losstoopenthe2019season.