Kenny Pickett on Steelers’ emergency landing: ‘Some guys were panicking’

Sunday night was a bit of a hectic one for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coming off an exciting win over the Raiders in Las Vegas, the team plane was forced to make an emergency landing — in Kansas City of all places. Mechanical issues left them stranded on the tarmac for eight hours.

That’s precious time for anyone, let alone a team coming off a short west coast road week.

Oh, and the Steelers quarterback slept on the floor. That is until he was rudely awakened.

“I wish they let me sleep,” Kenny Pickett told Steelers media on Wednesday. “The flight attendant woke me up.”

“That was awful. Crazy, crazy experience.”

Asked Kenny Pickett about the team’s emergency landing in KC.

“They said it was code yellow, and I was like what does that mean? We’re one step away from code red so it’s obviously not good.” pic.twitter.com/49IKyReNoO

— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) September 27, 2023

But technology helped him make the best of it as he watched tape and chatted with his fellow quarterbacks.

Not everyone was as laidback about the situation, though. “Some guys were panicking. It was a crazy situation, but I’m happy we landed.”

The delay set Pittsburgh back from a preparation standpoint, especially as Week 4 is another road game, but Mike Tomlin wants no excuses.

“We’re going to make it a non-issue, to be honest with you,” Tomlin said on Tuesday. “It’s in our rearview now as I stand here today, it’s a non-factor… And so, my desire is that as we move away from it, we talk less about it, because I don’t want it to be an excuse in any way, or some galvanizing thing in any way.”