Time is running out.
If the Steelers want to make a push for a spot in the AFC playoffs, they cannot afford another game like Sunday's.
A sloppy 16-14 loss at the hands of the Ravens pits Pittsburgh in 13th in the AFC at 5-8, and while the North division is virtually unattainable -- the Steelers are 4.0 games back of Baltimore (9-4) and Cincinnati (9-4) with four to play -- sneaking into one of the three AFC wild-card berths is still within reach.
The Steelers just need more than usual to go right this week. And again next week. And the two weeks after that.
However, they could be forging on and trying to right the ship without the starting quarterback.
That beckons the question: With Kenny Pickett potentially missing time, could the Steelers really turn to Mason Rudolph for Sunday's game in Carolina?
"That'll be something we talk about today, tomorrow," Rudolph said in Monday's open locker room session at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "I'm waiting to hear my involvement or the level of involvement this week, but I'm ready to rock if I'm needed."
Pickett was walking around the locker room on Monday, but was not available to speak due to being in the concussion protocol.
Once the team's primary backup-turned-starter, Rudolph has received limited -- if any -- snaps during in-season practice. He has not been activated for any of the Steelers' 13 games this season, as Mitch Trubisky has taken on the reserve QB position since his benching at halftime of the Jets game on Oct. 2.
If Pickett can't go on Sunday, Rudolph would be activated as, at minimum, QB2. But, as Pickett navigates through the concussion protocol and with Trubisky tossing three passes to the wrong uniform on Sunday, rumblings have reverberated about kicking the tires on ol' No. 2.
"I've tried to stay consistent all year," Rudolph said. "Whether that's with the film aspect or just prepping, doing what I can to help the two other guys prepare. They're pros. They've got good routines down, but if I can bring a nugget here and there, and then physically, just, obviously I don't get a lot of reps in practice, finding time to find a throw here and there. ... Put more pressure on myself to be perfect and individual in those short periods that I do have."
Rudolph has not thrown a pass in a regular-season game in nearly a calendar year. His last attempt was a 12-yard completion to Zach Gentry to run the clock out of a 36-10 Steelers loss at Kansas City on Dec. 26, 2021. In the preseason, he completed 26 of 39 passes (66.7%) for 220 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
Pickett went down on a Roquan Smith sack on the Steelers' third play of the game, but returned for the following offensive series. The Steelers went three-and-out with Pickett attempting a short pass to Jaylen Warren, and Trubisky was called into the game for the series after as Pickett officially entered the concussion protocol.
Trubisky threw three interceptions, but he also led the Steelers to the five-play. 75-yard drive just before the fourth quarter's two-minute warning which cut the deficit to 16-14, giving the Steelers' defense a chance (what one it had on Sunday) of getting the ball back.
Rudolph has had some bright spots and some flat spots in his five seasons as a Steeler, but has never had to reprise a role quite like this. Even with Ben Roethlisberger playing out the twilight years of his career, Rudolph was still etched as the backup and had dressed as such each week.
"The guy's a professional," Mason Cole told me of Rudolph. "He's been in this league for five years now, and knows how to prepare for a game, whether he's playing or not. It's a credit to him. Just a true professional."
As for Pickett, this is his second time in the protocol this season. The other instance came the week after the team's win over Tampa Bay in October. Pickett cleared protocol and played the following week at Miami, but he threw three interceptions.
Rudolph is no stranger to dealing with a concussion, and he offered his insight into what Pickett might be going through:
"I think every single concussion is -- there's no similar," Rudolph said. "There's no same two concussions. I think Kenny came back well from the first one, but just remember from my time, you sometimes can be a little -- that first practice back, you're -- am I cognitively there? You sometimes second guess yourself, but I think with enough practices you get back into a flow."
Rudolph could be thrust into a do-or-die situation for his team's playoff hopes.
A challenge worth embracing for a player which has seen few this season.
"I'm a competitor, so obviously, of course I want to play every week, each day," Rudolph said. "I want to practice. I take advantage of the reps I do get, but of course any competitor wants to be out there for his team, winning and putting his hand in the pile."
