The opening five games of Kenny Pickett’s run with the Pittsburgh Steelers were ones to forget. He posted a lowly 66.8 passer rating and threw eight total interceptions over these contests, including throwing a trio of interceptions in the Week 4 home defeat to the New York Jets.

Since the Steelers' bye week, Pickett has been more efficient when running the offense. While he has thrown a mere one touchdown pass in Pittsburgh’s last three matchups, he does boast an improved 84.5 passer rating, and he has also not turned the ball over.

From Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson’s standpoint, he believes that Pickett has shown notable signs of improvement as of late. For one, Johnson sees that the rookie quarterback is now “playing comfortable.”

“He's definitely been more aware, just playing safe, trying not to do too much out there,” Johnson said during a press conference on Wednesday. “He's just being himself out there and just letting the offense flow. When he's out there playing like that, we all play well.

“He's not forcing things. He's playing comfortable, as well. Just by him doing that, we're going to continue to make plays for him down the field.”

For the former Pittsburgh Panthers passer, he credits his recent promising outings to just becoming more familiar with offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s system.

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“I'm getting more comfortable with the system,” Pickett said during a press conference on Wednesday.

“That's the No. 1 thing, if you're in a system over a long period of time, you just feel like you're in a lot more control than when you're learning it, studying formations, structure and route combinations that are new to you, once you get to do that a couple of times and you get the rhythm of the game, the rhythm of the system, you can go be yourself and play.”

The Steelers have their attention set on a crucial road matchup against the Atlanta Falcons coming up in Week 13. A win for the Steelers over Atlanta would then give them a winning streak for the first time this season, which sure is much-needed for the AFC North side at this stage in the campaign.