When Kenny Pickett was slammed to the ground by Baltimore's Roquan Smith in Week 14, he ran to the sideline and headed into the blue medical tent for concussion tests. But he was quickly cleared to return to the game where he checked right back in on the Steelers' next drive.
That's when he realized something wasn't right.
"I thought I was good to go, felt good," Pickett said. "I got back out there and started running... I'm moving and things are going fast. That's when symptoms started to come up and I had to go inside."
The rookie QB said he was having issues with his vision. After a three-and-out on the possession, he self-reported his symptoms to the Steelers' medical staff.
"I came off the field, was not feeling good," he said. "So that's why I went in."
Pickett was ultimately diagnosed with a concussion, his second of the season. He was limited in practice throughout the week ahead of the team's matchup against the Panthers on Sunday. After some consideration, he and the medical staff decided it was best to have him sit out.
"I went through with the doctors and listened to what they said," he told reporters on Thursday. "Definitely the right call was not to play last week. I could have kind of pushed it, but I think the right choice was to sit out one week and be full go this week."
MORE: Latest updates on Kenny Pickett's injury status
Regarding Pickett's injury, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about his QB injury after the game against the Ravens.
"When he became symptomatic, he was pulled from the game and evaluated for concussion," Tomlin said. "I don’t know about the sequence or the details regarding the sequence."
Mitchell Trubisky replaced Pickett under center for the rest of the game against Baltimore — and the entire game last week against Carolina. The Steelers narrowly lost the former, 16-14, but won the latter, 24-16, to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
MORE: Updated NFL standings, playoff picture heading into Week 16
Pickett is set to resume his usual starting duties this week when Pittsburgh hosts Las Vegas in primetime on Christmas Eve.
Scrutiny over handling of concussion protocol in the NFL
The NFL, its teams and medical professionals have come under continued scrutiny this season in regards to how they handle head injuries.
A joint NFL and NFL Players Association investigation was launched after a situation involving Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. He suffered a head injury after hitting the turf hard in Week 3 against the Bills, but he cleared concussion protocols, despite stumbling and struggling to keep his balance. He returned to play in the second half. Just five days later, Tagovailoa was carted off following a scary head injury against the Bengals. The investigation found the protocols were followed correctly, but the outcome was "not what was intended when the protocols were drafted."
MORE: Explaining the Tua Rule-- How Tua Tagovailoa changed NFL's concussion protocol
Since Tagovailoa's injury, ataxia symptoms, which can be described as poor muscle control that causes clumsy voluntary movements, have been added to the NFL's protocol.
The system is far from perfect: Nelson Agholor forced play to stop when he saw DeVante Parker, his Patriots teammate, suffering from ataxia. The failure from spotters who missed Parker's injury drew swift blowback, including from the WR.
