QB Kenny Pickett (8.2.25)
How’s the hamstring?
“It’s coming along. Just trying to take it a day at a time. You know, frustrated not being able to be out there competing, but trying to do my best to listen to what the doctors and trainers are saying and trust everything in the process.”
You might be tempted to push it. How do you not do that?
“Yeah. They tell me no, you know, I would be out there trying to push through it, you know, more like staying in the pocket and stuff. I try to plead my case, but everyone has a job to do. They’re looking out for me, and I appreciate that. But you’re also fighting the battle to get out there, so it’s tough.”
Kenny, last Saturday, you threw a touchdown on the last play. Did it happen before that or on that play?
“Yeah, it happened a couple plays before that.”
On a run or a pass play?
“Run.”
The Browns really like your mobility in this part of your game. So, do you feel like when you come back, you’re going to be that same guy or you’re going to have to manage it?
“No, I’ll have to manage it whenever I’m back, probably a few weeks after, based on the injury and where I’m at. But I think it gives me a great opportunity just to work from the pocket, you know, find checkdowns, really improve my game from the pocket. So, I think if I look at it with that lens, you know, it could be a real positive.”
Is it your target to be ready for the Carolina practice?
“I can’t say if that’s the target or not. I want to be out there. I think there’s ways that I could be able to get out there. Really, just taking it a day at a time.”
Ironic that here you are out with a hamstring injury, and then Shedeur (Sanders) was out today with some arm soreness and, you know, Joe (Flacco) and Dillon (Gabriel) had to take all the team reps. Did that seem like an odd practice to have to see it like that?
“I don’t think so. I think it’s, you know, next man up, and when you’re not in a competition, I think you’re losing ground. I think that’s the nature of the business, the nature of the game. So, it’s great for those two guys to get extra reps. And, you know, me and Shedeur (Sanders) got to get back out there.”
Kenny, when you are not able to be out there, what personally do you do to still stay involved in team meeting rooms, in those meetings, to really just kind of like stay in the know?
“Yeah, I just go about as if I’m practicing, you know, studying the script for the day, and like Tommy (Rees) says, we’re kind of treating each practice like a game plan, you know, getting it the night before, being able to study to go out there and prepare. And then every rep they get, I just get a mental rep behind them. So, there’s ways to steal it, you know, with some film reps too. I got to do some one-on-ones at the end of the day, which was great, you know, and it felt great doing stuff in the pocket. So, a lot of positives, just trying to keep my mind frame there.”
How crucial are those mental reps, especially in this scenario?
“Yeah, they’re everything for me right now. That’s all I’m able to get. So, you know, trying to learn from, what they do, what went well, what didn’t go well. So, when I get back out there, I don’t make the same mistakes, you know, and I can do the same positive that those guys are doing.”
Your determination to win the starting job, is it exactly the same as it was before this injury?
“It is.”
What’s your mindset?
“Yeah, 100% it is. I’m trying to get back out there, you know, as fast as possible. I’ve never had, you know, a soft tissue injury like this, so really a first-time experience in my career, I felt like I came in great shape, was hitting numbers speed wise that I’ve never hit before. So, it’s frustrating that it happened but you know, turn the page and just trying to be, you know, as good as I can be when I do return.”
I know you said you’ve never had like a soft tissue thing like this before. I know they can be so finicky, and you have to manage them very carefully. Like has that created any extra pressure or anything like that in terms of the management?
“A little bit because you just can’t push it too much because you can really set yourself back, you know, it’s not one of those injuries that you can just go play on and not really think about it as much. So just constant communication with the trainers and really listening to them because like I said, it’s my first time having it. I really don’t know what to expect going through the process, just really listening to the doctors and the trainers.”
An injury like that, what is the treatment?
“I think, I’ve been doing stuff pretty much 24/7. Like, you know, getting in at like 6:30 a.m., stretching, strengthening, icing it, some heat before I go out here, stretching, then a lot of recovery stuff on the back end, some more strengthening. I go home, and I have some equipment at home that I could use. So, it’s really 24/7 – just trying to stay on top of it, do the best I can to get back as fast as possible.”
Do you feel like this affected the competition, and do you feel like it’s been a setback that you had to miss time?
“Oh, yeah. Like I said, if you’re not out there, I think it’s a setback. You know, you have to be out there playing and competing to win a job. And I fully understand that. That’s why I’m pushing to get back, you know, as fast as possible.”
And could there possibly be a silver lining? I know you mentioned some of the positives, but could there be a silver lining for you just in terms of what you have to learn mentally…?
“Yeah, I’m happy it happened early in camp, you know, and not three- or four-weeks in. So, I think that’s a positive way to look at it. And like I said, just getting the mental reps, you know, working more from the pocket, so trying to spin in all those positive ways that I can really come out better on the other side of it.”
Kind off of that, is it a positive that — you’ve been in league now, this is your fourth year — you have experience, you’ve been through this a few years, then compared if it had happened as a rookie. Is there a difference there?
“Yeah, I would say that too. You know, having experience and having a lot of game snaps under my belt, a lot of practice reps under my belt. I think it’s definitely better that happened to a more veteran guy that has a little bit more experience versus a rookie. You know, that would make life even harder as a rookie. But I’m glad I do have that experience. I can kind of fall back on it.”
So, you haven’t been told when you can go back to team drills?
“No, not yet.”
In terms of your mobility, we already talked about it a little bit. But when you have a hamstring issue as a mobile quarterback, and that’s kind of your superpower in this competition, it seems to me, that makes it even trickier than if, say, like, Joe (Flacco) suffered a hamstring injury, right?
“Joe (Flacco) can move a little bit, give him some credit. Like I said, it makes it tougher, but that’s the game. It’s part of the game. So, I think working the pocket move and stuff, you know, staying in the pocket, going through reads, hitting check downs. I know I have the instinct to create plays outside the pocket, but I just can’t do that as soon as I’d like to.”
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