PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It came down to not getting enough reps in practice last week. That is why Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Kenny Pickett didn’t even dress on Sunday in Seattle. Nothing more than that.
It was shocking for many who cover the team that he wasn’t at least the emergency quarterback. It wouldn’t have cost the team a roster spot, but if Mason Rudolph and Mitch Trubisky were hurt, granted the odds are long on that, they would have been without a quarterback with Pickett healthy.
“That clarity didn’t come until later in the week and it was about the distribution of reps and who was best prepared and positioned to help us win and that’s the direction we went with,” Tomlin explained on Monday.
Bottom line is he didn’t believe Pickett, who has been out since the Arizona game in early December, wasn’t ready to contribute.
Tomlin said the decisions being made now are about right now. While he would admit you factor in all variables in decision-making, he’s just looking to win a game on Saturday and keep the team’s playoff hopes alive. He wasn’t going to speculate about Pickett’s future.
He did leave the light on for Pickett to return in the playoffs. Tomlin said it would be about how the Rudolph and the offense performed against the Ravens that would play into the decision of who would start a playoff game, if the Steelers qualified.
Tomlin said to the media, that we can ask Pickett into his feelings on the situation when we talk to him later in the week. He wasn’t going to get into it, but did say about Pickett, who has started 24 games in two seasons.
“He is a competitor,” Tomlin said. “He wants the football. He wants to play, but at the same time he's a team player. And so, you know, our agenda is winning football games right now. And so, I imagine that's everyone's mindset.”
Only once has Pickett quarterbacked a Steelers team to 30 points, that was in a loss to the Bengals, 37-30 in 2022. In the last four games that he started and finished (wins against Tennessee, Green Bay and the Bengals with a loss to Cleveland) the Steelers offense totaled 69 points. Mason Rudolph is 2-0 in his two starts this season totaling 64 points in wins over Cincinnati and at Seattle.
Tomlin said often on Monday he did not want to speculate about the future. Rudolph’s surge presents some questions that might not even factor next season as Mason is a free agent after this season ends.
What is Kenny Pickett’s future? Right now, it’s as someone who can help starter Mason Rudolph. Beyond that, it’s much more in doubt than most thought it would be two years removed from setting records at Pitt.
"I'm just looking at where we are and what we need to do this week," Tomlin said. "That's probably more of an end of the year type analysis, man. And we're on a short week and we're trying to put together a formula to win this game."