On Tuesday, the Steelers are expected to release their depth chart for Sunday’s game in Cincinnati. At that point, the battle for the starting quarterback position — which began back in the spring — will finally have some official clarity.
But, on Monday, the Steelers likely tipped their hand.
Mitch Trubisky was voted by his teammates to be one of the offense’s co-captains, an indication that the team plans on starting him ahead of rookie Kenny Pickett and veteran Mason Rudolph, when the season kicks off.
“It’s a tremendous honor,” said Trubisky following the team’s first practice. “Any time you’re voted by your peers, by your teammates, it obviously means a lot. I just come in here, try lead by example and earn the trust of my teammates.
“It just means a lot that they thought I was worthy of this honor. I’m definitely going to make sure I live up to it.”
While captainship doesn’t exactly guarantee a starting spot, it would be highly unlikely that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin would allow a backup quarterback to be a captain, regardless of team vote.
“You can assume anything you want,” Trubisky said, with a laugh, when asked if he will be starting Sunday. “The announcement will come out when it needs to come out. You’re not going to hear it from me. We just go about our business.”
Regardless of Tomlin’s potential influence on the captain selection or not, it is impressive that a player in his first season with the organization was able to not only win the job, but also win over his teammates, who has universally spoken highly of him, particularly after he invited several of his offensive teammates to his home in Florida for offseason training.
“That helped,” tight end Pat Freiermuth said. “Him opening his home up to us, it kind of had us believe in him.”
"I just think he's a guy people rally around," said defensive end Cam Heyward, also named a captain. "He' all about team. He's very bought in. He understands and coach Coach T says it. He's carrying our hopes and dreams on every single play. He's gotten more and more comfortable and guys are excited to play for him.
"He's come with the right mindset from the start. He's allowed us to have a lot of trust in him."
Heyward's remarks almost guarantee that Trubisky will be the starter. And it also shows how impactful he's been to players like Heyward, the unquestioned player leader of the entire group.
“I was just me,” Trubisky said of that leadership trait. “I think I come in every day, work my tail off, obviously show knowledge of the offense. But I think it’s just being a great teammate and being a great leader, being someone the young guys can look up to, just to do things the right way. (I’m) just a guy who wants the best for this team and to lead us in the right direction.”
Trubisky believes that going through last season, one in which he was a backup, but still a new quarterback in Buffalo, helped him with the transition to his new team after his time in Chicago — which drafted him in the first round — fizzled out.
“I’d always fun meeting new guys, being part of a new organization,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys. These guys are hungry and excited.
“It doesn’t matter who you are or what year you are, you can be a leader on a team. I’ve seen that on every team I’ve been on.”