The news wasn’t all that surprising Monday as Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin delivered it: Mason Rudolph remains the starting quarterback despite Kenny Pickett being healthy.
Based on his play the last two weeks, and the confidence the coaching staff has shown in him, Rudolph was the unquestioned guy going forward, especially into the season finale against the Baltimore Ravens with the Steelers needing a win to try and make the AFC playoffs.
But it was rather telling where the franchise seems to be with Pickett right now, at least from an outside perspective. There’s not much trust and belief there compared to Rudolph currently.
That’s why the Steelers are going with Rudolph for another week. But despite that decision, Tomlin won’t get into the speculation regarding what the future outlook of the quarterback position in Pittsburgh is now with Rudolph seemingly having passed up Pickett on the depth chart. Instead, Tomlin is focused on the here and now, winning another game and trying to get into the playoffs.
“Again, we’re focused on today and this week. We can waste a lot of time this week speculating in those ways,” Tomlin stated to reporters Monday when asked if the last two weeks with Rudolph starting has changed or affected the franchise’s plans at quarterback for next season.
Speculation, especially at the quarterback position, can be fun. But that doesn’t help the Steelers prepare to win a game this week, so Tomlin isn’t bothering getting into that conversation. It’s all about one day at a time, preparing for the Ravens and trying to beat a familiar AFC North foe for a second time this season.
Internally, the franchise can’t be worried about the future of the quarterback position right now. But on the outside, it’s a fair question. Even with the perceived franchise quarterback in Pickett healthy and ready to play after recovering from his ankle injury and subsequent tightrope surgery, the Steelers are sticking with Rudolph, who has given the Steelers a major spark in the last two weeks in leading them to two big-time wins.
That’s undoubtedly going to raise further questions about the future outlook of the position for the franchise, as it should. It was rather telling that the Steelers chose Rudolph over Pickett despite health.
As for Pickett himself, it has to be a frustrating situation, losing your job due to injury. That said, Rudolph has looked better in the last two games than Pickett has at any point in his career. There’s no real denying that.
But despite that likely frustration over not getting back into the lineup, Tomlin stated that Pickett is a team player and knows that the team’s agenda at this point in the season is winning games.
“Man, he is a competitor. He wants the football, he wants to play, but at the same time he’s a team player,” Tomlin said. “And so, our agenda is winning football games right now. And so I imagine that’s everyone’s mindset.”
It certainly better be everyone’s mindset.
There is no time to be worried about oneself in the stretch run. It’s everyone putting their hand into the pile and pushing toward victory, even if that means sacrificing a role, production, what have you.
Pickett isn’t above that; nor should he be. He was voted team captain for a reason. He’s in a strong quarterback room, too, and can take a thing or two from Mitch Trubisky’s book when it comes to how to handle being benched/passed over but still being a key leader in the locker room.
