Before the Pittsburgh Steelers left the stadium last week Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals after losing at home, 24-10, head coach Mike Tomlin said that the team would roll with QB Mitch Trubisky if Kenny Pickett was unable to go after injuring his ankle in the contest. Pickett would go on to have tightrope surgery to mend his high ankle issue, effectively knocking him out for the next few weeks, putting Trubisky in position to start on Thursday night against the New England Patriots.
Tomlin mentioned prior to the game that he decided to go with Trubisky because of his experience as well as the fact that he has had reps in practice as well as in game while QB Mason Rudolph hasn’t seen many reps since the preseason concluded. When asked on Monday if Rudolph will get some first-team reps in practice, Tomlin mentioned that the backup would get some run in practice prior to the team’s Week 15 game against the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday afternoon.
“Mason will get an opportunity to get some reps, certainly,” Tomlin said to the media Monday on video from the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “You don’t get an opportunity to get a lot of that, particularly when you’re at the three spot. When you’re at the two spot and you have a full week, certainly, Last week there were a limited amount of reps for all parties involved, and so he certainly will get more opportunity this week from a preparation standpoint.”
Trubisky had stepped in for Pickett on three separate occasions this season, first against the Houston Texans, and then against the Jacksonville Jaguars as well as the Arizona Cardinals before getting the start last Thursday. The performance of Pittsburgh’s backup quarterback has been up and down. He’s thrown three passing touchdowns while running for another, but he’s also thrown three interceptions and has been scattershot at times as a passer, missing open receivers while having the pressure get to him, forcing bad decisions.
Tomlin was later asked if Rudolph would be given a fair shot at competing with Trubisky for the starting job now that he figures to get some work in practice. Tomlin said that he will be evaluated based on his performance in practice but that the starting job is Trubisky’s job to lose.
“He just hadn’t had a lot of exposure in terms of in helmet prep,” Tomlin said of Rudolph. “And so, I don’t know what do you mean when you say a fair evaluation or shot. I don’t know that we evaluate and practice performance in that way this time of year. He’ll get an opportunity to get some work and we’ll evaluate that work and evaluate his readiness. But we’re not opening up competition and things of that nature. It’s just not an environment for that as we work.”
Given how Trubisky played last Thursday against the Patriots, many have been clamoring for Rudolph to get a shot at least until Pickett returns. Rudolph has some experience in this role, having played in 10 games with eight starts in 2019 when Ben Roethlisberger was lost for the year due to an elbow injury. Still, Rudolph hasn’t played or started in a regular-season game in nearly two years now, making it difficult for Tomlin to believe that he would be able to provide more than what Trubisky has done given his extensive playing time in Pittsburgh the last two seasons.
Rudolph wasn’t a world beater during his time as a starter in 2019, getting benched at one point for Duck Hodges, who is now out of the league. Still, he’s a more conservative player who will do what is instructed of him, being able to take deep shots down the field while not forcing the ball into bad coverage like Trubisky has shown that he will do. Alex Kozora of Steelers Depot made the argument that Rudolph may be Pittsburgh’s best option at quarterback until Pickett returns, but Tomlin appears set to roll with “Money Mitch” until his franchise quarterback is back in the fold.
