With QB Kenny Pickett ruled out of the game Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals with an ankle injury, his availability on a short week for Pittsburgh’s Thursday night game against the New England Patriots appears very much in question.
Mitch Trubisky has firmly been Pickett’s backup for the entire season, coming in various games including against the Texans and Jaguars when Pickett left the game due to injury. Against the Cardinals, Trubisky went 11-for-17 for 117 yards and a touchdown pass to WR Diontae Johnson in garbage time.
There has been plenty of talk about whether QB Mason Rudolph should overtake Trubisky as the backup quarterback. Former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger addressed the topic on his live-stream podcast during the game, stating he doesn’t think there’s any way Rudolph would start on Thursday should Pickett be ruled out of the contest.
“You’ve gotta go with Mitch,” Roethlisberger said on Footbahlin, which aired on Channel Seven’s YouTube channel. “There’s no way you could go with Mason. I mean, he hasn’t got any reps. I mean, if you were putting Mason in now, maybe. But you couldn’t do Mitch now and go with Mason… I sure wouldn’t think.”
Roethlisberger poses a logical reality that Rudolph hasn’t recorded a snap thus far this season whereas Trubisky has seen legit playing time in three games this season, completing 29-of-49 pass attempts for 273 yards and two touchdowns to two interceptions. Had Pittsburgh been able to put Rudolph in after Pickett got hurt against Arizona, then he would have a better chance of getting the start. However, given the third emergency quarterback rule established this year, Rudolph wasn’t eligible to enter the game unless both Pickett and Trubisky got hurt.
Pittsburgh could opt to give both guys reps in practice this week and make that decision later, but it wouldn’t make much sense to split reps on a short week. Pittsburgh needs to dial in and get this win against the Patriots in the worst way to stay in the AFC playoff race. HC Mike Tomlin said that the team would roll with Trubisky if Pickett can’t go, meaning that the idea of Rudolph possibly getting the start is no more than a fantasy as we sit here today. Perhaps an argument could be made that Pittsburgh should go with Rudolph over Trubisky given his more conservative style of play compared to Trubisky’s more risky tendencies as a passer. However, that case looks to be on ice, at least for this week.
