It seems at times that we are expected to empathize with one player’s emotional status on one day but not that of another. Indeed, the sentiment is far from uncommon and seems driven largely by how palatable those emotions might be in the moment.
On this particular day, we are asked to feel very good for Pittsburgh Steelers QB Mason Rudolph, yet resentful of his purported prior maltreatment. Conversely, we’re not supposed to have much sympathy for Kenny Pickett, whom many have already cast aside.
A 14-6 starter in games he’s started and played the majority of, he has missed the past three games due to an ankle injury. They went 1-2 without him, only getting back into the winning column thanks to new backup Rudolph, who quarterbacked the best game by a Steeler in two years in the estimation of most.
The Steelers opted to put Pickett in front of the microphone earlier this week, and some wonder if they regretted it. Some of his answers were interpreted as terse or flippant, while others may not have been exactly as the team would have hoped. And the general sense is that he’s not happy that he’s not playing—or perhaps even lost his job.
“I probably think on some level he has to feel that way”, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said on 93.7 The Fan recently with Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller. “He came out pretty much and said, ‘Hey, I’m ready to go, but it’s up to them’. I think any competitor would have those feelings”.
He was asked about comments made by former Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano on the subject. He said that Pickett was “pissed” about the situation, in his own estimation, and about some of the questions that he was being asked. He added that he feels you can’t lose your starting job due to injury.
But it does happen on occasion, and at least for the remainder of the season, this could be one example, depending on how far Rudolph can take it. Many seem to think that the former third-stringer will continue to start games all the way through to the Super Bowl as long as they continue to win. Stacking multiple wins would be a good place to start to test that theory. So will he start again after this?
“Depends what happens on Sunday. If the Steelers win and Mason has another good performance”, Fittipaldo said, “there’s no way Mason’s gonna come out of the lineup. If the Steelers lose, they probably go back to Kenny for that last game. But I think it all hinges on Sunday and how the Steelers do. I think they’re gonna ride this hot hand until it gets cold”.
There are no doubt a lot of ifs in this conversation, chiefly the one about Rudolph being able to play well two games in a row. If he doesn’t, then the rest of the ifs fade away. Or at least most of them. Then it comes down to how healthy Pickett and his ankle truly is. What the team doctors say, not what he says.
