There has been no official pronouncement, but Mitch Trubisky plans on starting the Steelers' final preseason game Saturday against the Lions.
Whether that means he will also be the team's starting quarterback when the Steelers open the regular season Sept. 11 against the Bengals in Cincinnati -- that's another matter.
"I don’t know," Trubisky said Wednesday as the Steelers returned to practice at the UPMC-Rooney Sports Complex following a day off. "There’s got to be some announcement before Game 1. We’ll see."
There might be an announcement by Mike Tomlin at some point regarding who his starting quarterback will be against the Bengals, but all signs certainly continue to point to Trubisky. He's taken nearly every first-team snap throughout the offseason, training camp and preseason.
And while the other quarterbacks in question -- rookie Kenny Pickett and veteran Mason Rudolph -- have had a turn here or there working with the first team offense, Trubisky has never worked with any group by the starters.
That is what the plan seems to be for Saturday's game, as well. According to the Lions' head coach, Dan Campbell, he's been in contact with Tomlin and both coaches will play their starters in the first half of their third, and final, preseason game, using it as the final tuneup for the regular season.
That will be welcome for Trubisky, who has started both of the Steelers' first two preseason games, but attempted just 15 passes, completing nine for 123 yards and one touchdown in five possessions.
"It’s been a limited sample, but I think I’ve done a lot of good things in practice, a lot of good throws in the games," Trubisky said. "I’m just focused on what we can improve as a unit now. That’s staying on the field on third down and going down and finishing with some points. Especially in the last game, we’d like to stay on the field a little longer and finish in the end zone. We’ll see what we can improve. I’ve done a lot of great things so far. I’m really comfortable with where I’m at and how I’m throwing the football and how I’m learning the playbook and going through all of my reads."
Signed to a two-year, $14.285 million free agent deal in the offseason, Trubisky has the most NFL starting experience of the three quarterbacks remaining on the Steelers' roster. All 50 of his career starts came with the Bears, where he compiled a 29-21 record as a starter before spending the 2021 season as a backup to Josh Allen in Buffalo.
The second overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, Trubisky's personality has helped his cause.
"He’s just a good, funny dude off the field, so any time he’s, ‘Hey, I need you here on the field,’ or ‘Keep it up,’ it feels good. That’s your boy talking to you, so you take it seriously," wide receiver Chase Claypool said.
"Mitch has done nothing but a great job, so I’m excited to see how he keeps pushing that along forward. I’m really excited because we have a lot of great options."
Pickett, the team's first-round draft pick this year, would be the other option, though Rudolph also has had a strong preseason and training camp.
In terms of performance in the preseason games, Pickett leads with a 138.6 passer rating with three touchdown passes, while Rudolph's passer rating is at 106.3 with a pair of touchdown passes. Trubisky sits at 108.5, but said things are a little different for him because he's mainly been working against the opponent's starting units in the first two preseason games against the Seahawks and Jaguars.
"It’s tough to gauge," Trubisky said in terms of comparing performances. "It’s always different in the first quarter of a preseason game. You’re not really having a real game plan. We’ll have a little bit more of one this week. You’re not really showing everything you have. And you’re really just trying to establish a rhythm. It takes a whole unit, not just a quarterback. It takes all 11 guys to have a successful play to go down and score as a unit. I think more than anything, we’re trying to find a rhythm."
He'll get that shot again this week. Beyond that, it seems like a foregone conclusion that Trubisky will be the starter against the Bengals, but Tomlin has continued to balk at officially naming a starter.
"I think how I carry myself every day, what I’ve done on the practice field," Trubisky said of why he feels he deserves the job. "I would have liked to do more last week, obviously. It’s your whole body of work. Everything I’ve done up to this point, what I’ve done in minicamp, the practices at Latrobe and in the preseason games. It wasn’t the best showing last week for the unit and myself, so all you can do is control today. That’s what I’m trying to do and have a great week.