The Pittsburgh Steelers started third-string quarterback Mason Rudolph vs. the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday and went on to pick up one of their best wins of the season by taking the 34–11 victory.
But, heading into Week 17, it was possible that starter Kenny Pickett could return from his ankle injury to start vs. the Seattle Seahawks. As of now, though, Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin is sticking with Rudolph.
“Mason Rudolph has the ball as we stand here today,” Tomlin said in his Tuesday press conference.
However, Tomlin didn’t explicitly name Rudolph the starter for Sunday. Pickett is expected to take snaps throughout the week, so it’s still an option for the second-year quarterback to return this weekend.
“We’re in the same position with Kenny as we were last week,” Tomlin said. “We’ll give him a few reps and kind of see where that leads us. But just as I said a week ago, in this setting, Mason Rudolph is scheduled to be the quarterback for the week. And we’ll see where Kenny is. We have the same mentality as we start this week.”
Rudolph finished Saturday’s win with 290 yards and two touchdowns. This was his first start of the season. Pickett hasn’t started since Saturday, Dec. 3 vs. the Arizona Cardinals. Backup Mitch Trubisky started the previous two games, which both resulted in losses.
