The 35-point blowout wasn’t the reason Kenny Pickett went after Shaq Lawson at the end of the Steelers’ loss to the Bills on Sunday.

The rookie quarterback took exception to Lawson tackling him low near his left knee after he had gotten a pass off. So when Pickett got up to his knees, he shoved the Bills defensive end and sparked a brief brouhaha when the Steelers’ offensive linemen came to his defense.

“From my opinion, I felt like he went after my knee after I threw it,” Pickett told reporters after Pittsburgh’s 38-3 loss in Orchard Park. “That’s it. You know, tempers flare. I don’t care, I’m gonna keep playing to the last play of the game. That was it. All good with me.”

Pickett also took questionable contact from the Bills’ Damar Hamlin as the quarterback went into a slide in the third quarter. Pickett, whose fake slide in college at Pitt resulted in a rule banning the move, was mid-slide near Buffalo’s 15-yard line when Hamlin hit him. Steelers lineman James Daniels shoved Hamlin to the ground, sparking a skirmish.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who called Pickett’s response to the fourth-quarter hit “appropriate,” didn’t have an issue with Hamlin but was surprised he was not penalized.

“I had a problem with the fact that it wasn’t officiated in a way that I anticipated it being officiated,” Tomlin told reporters.

Pickett, the 24-year-old first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, made his first career start Sunday after replacing Mitch Trubisky mid-game the week prior against the Jets. He finished 34-for-52 with 327 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception against the Bills.