Steelers QB Kenny Pickett ruled out for Saturday against Bengals
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) -- Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett has been ruled out for Saturday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Earlier this week, Coach Mike Tomlin said Mason Rudolph would start as quarterback but he left the door open for Pickett, saying he's continuing to progress and his status was questionable. While Pickett was limited in Wednesday's practice, Tomlin confirmed on Thursday that he wouldn't be playing.
The Steelers' offense is struggling. The team is 28th in scoring and hasn't scored more than 18 points in each of their past five games, a stretch in which they've gone just 1-4 to squander the momentum generated by a somewhat surprising 6-3 start.
The only win during their current slide came at Cincinnati, when they rolled up 421 yards in the first game since firing offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
The good times haven't lasted. The Steelers followed up the win over the Bengals by producing 321 yards, 264 yards and 216 yards in losses to Arizona, New England and Indianapolis. Pickett went down late in the first half against the Cardinals and Trubisky proved mistake-prone.
The No. 2 overall draft pick in 2017 and a Pro Bowler in 2020 while playing for Chicago threw three touchdowns but also three interceptions since taking over for Pickett, including a pair of poor throws against the Colts on wayward heaves downfield.
Enter Rudolph, a third-round pick in 2018 who played a large chunk of the 2019 season while Ben Roethlisberger recovered from right elbow surgery.
He's played sparingly over the past four years, making a spot start in a meaningless season finale against Cleveland in 2020 and guiding an ugly 16-16 tie with Detroit in 2021 when Roethlisberger was placed in the COVID-19 protocol on the eve of the game.
Rudolph finished third in a three-way battle with Trubisky and Pickett to serve as Roethlisberger's replacement in 2022. He's served as the emergency or backup quarterback on gameday over the past two seasons and made his first appearance in nearly two years in mop-up duty in the final seconds against the Colts.
Pickett has been out since injuring his ankle in the second quarter of Week 13's game against the Arizona Cardinals and undergoing surgery on a high ankle sprain.
While Pickett won't return Saturday, the Steelers will get Cam Heyward back against the Bengals. After last week's loss, Heyward was in concussion protocol but was cleared by an independent neurological consultant Thursday morning.
