After a rocky end to his time in Pittsburgh, Kenny Pickett is ready to turn the page following his trade to Philadelphia.
"Just think this is a good reset," Pickett said Monday. "Just a chance to play on this team in that quarterback room with a couple of great guys, helping those guys out any way I can and just be ready if my number's called somewhere down the road. ... Just trying to put my best foot forward and be an asset to this team."
On Friday, the Steelers traded Pickett to Philadelphia in a pick-swap.
In the aftermath, reports didn't paint the 25-year-old quarterback in a good light, noting that his negative reaction to the Russell Wilson signing ultimately led to Pickett's being shipped to the other side of Pennsylvania.
Pickett dismissed the reports on Monday, focusing instead on his future in Philly.
"I think the communication is what it is," he said. "It was behind closed doors. I'm confident in the way I handled it. I handled it the way I should have handled it. I'm excited to be here. It worked out so well that Philly was the place I ended up landing in. I think everything happens for a reason, and I'm right where I'm supposed to be."
Pickett's spiral came after he suffered an ankle injury last season that required surgery. When he returned healthy enough to play, the Steelers instead rode with Mason Rudolph instead of restoring Pickett to his starting role.
It was reported that Pickett refused to be the emergency third quarterback in the Steelers' Week 17 game in Seattle.
"I think that goes back to a lot of the communication behind closed doors that didn't go the way that I feel like they went in how it's getting released," Pickett said when asked about the report. "There was a plan there for that game. It went down exactly the way it was planned to go down that entire week. I was coming off the ankle surgery, it is what it is. And like I've been saying, I'm very happy to be here."
The No. 20 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Pickett's time in Pittsburgh goes down as a disappointment both on and off the field.
"I think you always learn more from the adversities in life than a lot of your success stories," he said. "Just putting my head down and going back to work and doing what I love. I love to play the game. I want to get back to having fun. Getting a chance to meet these guys, and I already feel it's a great environment here with this coaching staff and these players."
In Philly, Pickett starts the offseason as the backup to Jalen Hurts. Given the low cost the Eagles paid to acquire the quarterback, it's not guaranteed he will hang on to the backup gig.
