Steelers' Kenny Pickett After Matt Canada Firing: 'We All Got to Be Better'

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett told reporters that the entire offense needs to do better in the wake of head coach Mike Tomlin relieving ex-offensive coordinator Matt Canada of his duties.

"I wasn't aware of any moves that were going to be made," Pickett told reporters Wednesday (h/t ESPN's Brooke Pryor).

"... You hate to see it. You don't want to see one of your coaches lose their job. We all got to be better. Called coach [Canada], wished him well. We had a great conversation, but you got to bounce back quick and get ready to go."'

An change seemed possible after the Steelers' ugly offensive effort in a 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns last Sunday. Pittsburgh managed just 249 total yards, and 129 of them were courtesy of running back Jaylen Warren (75 of which came on one touchdown run). Pickett completed just 15-of-28 passes for 106 yards.

That's capped a rough 10-game stretch in which Pittsburgh has scored just 16.6 points per game, the NFL's fifth-lowest mark.

Canada had been the Steelers' OC since 2021. The Steelers finished 21st and then 26th in scoring in 2021 and 2022.

Despite the 2023 showing, the 6-4 Steelers find themselves in the middle of the AFC playoff race. If the season ended today, Pittsburgh would be the seventh and final AFC seed.

Pickett and the Steelers are now focused on moving forward, figuring out the problems and hopefully rectifying them in time to make the playoffs.

"It's a challenge to everybody," Pickett said.

"I feel like you have to take it personal. It's a guy you've worked with since I got drafted here, you want to play great, you don't want to see anyone get let go like that. So absolutely we have to answer the bell, find out what we need to do to play better and then just go take care of business."

Running backs coach Eddie Faulkner will take over at offensive coordinator, but quarterback coach Mike Sullivan will call plays. They'll get their first chance to reboot the offense on Sunday when the Steelers visit the Cincinnati Bengals.