Mason Rudolph is in line to be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback on Sunday at Seattle.
Coach Mike Tomlin noted Rudolph’s position on Tuesday as Pittsburgh monitors Kenny Pickett’s recovery from an ankle injury.
“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 passed for 290 yards and two scores in Saturday’s 34-11 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals to keep playoff hopes alive for the Steelers (8-7).
It was the first start since 2021 for Rudolph, who completed 17 of 27 passes and was only sacked once in Pittsburgh’s final home game of the season.
Rudolph, 28, replaced Mitchell Trubisky, who was benched by Tomlin after losing two starts following the Week 13 injury to Pickett.
Pickett practiced last week on a limited basis and NFL Network reported Tuesday that he would return against the Seahawks.
Tomlin declined to state whether Pickett would start on Sunday if he’s medically cleared.
“I’m not into hypotheticals,” he said. “We’ll see what the performance looks like tomorrow. Mason Rudolph has the ball as we stand here today.”
Tomlin also announced linebacker Elandon Roberts has been ruled out for this weekend’s game. Roberts sustained a pectoral injury in the first half against the Bengals.
Roberts, 29, has registered 100 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 15 games (14 starts) this season.
The Steelers are one of four 8-7 teams in the AFC. After visiting the Seahawks (8-7), Pittsburgh finishes the regular season at AFC-leading Baltimore (12-3) on Jan. 7.
–Field Level Media
