The Steelers are in a similar state with respect to their quarterback situation for Sunday in Seattle, Mike Tomlin announced in his weekly press conference Tuesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
Per Tomlin, Mason Rudolph is slated to start Sunday at Seattle, but the door is open for Kenny Pickett to practice his way back into action. Rudolph is set to prepare this week as the starter, but Pickett's work and mobility will be monitored and a decision will be made towards the end of the week of who goes under center against the Seahawks.
"We're in the same position with Kenny as we were last week," Tomlin said. "We'll give him a few reps and kind of see where that leads us, but just as I said a week ago in this setting, Mason Rudolph was scheduled to be the quarterback for the week and we'll see where Kenny is. We have the same mentality as we start this week.
"Obviously we have a great deal, more comfort because of what we've seen in stadium from Mason Rudolph, and that helps us. But we still, really, are in the same posture. He's got the ball to start the week and we'll see where Kenny is from a mobility perspective and then kind of go from there and plan day by day based on the things that we see from that perspective."
Pickett underwent tightrope surgery on Dec. 4 to repair a high-ankle sprain sustained against the Cardinals the day prior. He logged three limited practices last week in advance of the Steelers' game against the Bengals and was ruled out Thursday by Tomlin. Pickett practiced in individual drills, but Rudolph ran team reps with the rest of the offense in preparation.
When asked directly, Tomlin would not outwardly commit to Pickett starting Sunday if he is deemed fully healthy.
"I'm not into hypotheticals," Tomlin said. "We'll see what the performance looks like tomorrow. Mason Rudolph has the ball as we stand here today."
Rudolph completed 17 of 27 passes for 290 yards, two touchdowns and a 124.0 rating in the Steelers' 34-11 win over the Bengals Saturday. He delivered four touchdown drives and a season-high 34 points. In games which Pickett started this season, the Steelers' offense had not produced more than three touchdowns, and the season-high point total was the 24 engineered Oct. 22 at the Rams.
Tomlin noted Rudolph's aggressiveness as a key factor for the offense's success Saturday.
"I don't think anything happened in-game from his quality of play or mindset that we didn't talk about in here a week ago, the things that made him an attractive candidate under the circumstances," Tomlin said. "We talked about him having a great deal of belief in himself and being aggressive in mentality and play and those things were confirmed in-game.
"I thought he did a really good job of being comfortable, being himself, communicating with people regardless of the moments. I thought that showed, the confidence that he has in himself showed, and I also thought that he remained aggressive throughout. I thought the third-and-1 touchdown to George (Pickens) in the third quarter is kind of reflective of that playing beyond situational circumstances and being aggressive. I thought we were aggressive there at the end of the first half, as well, in pursuit of the three points we got, are another examples of his aggressive nature. I thought it was an asset to him and an asset to us in-game."
Rudolph's connection with Pickens was the most fluid and the most productive shown by a Steelers quarterback this season. Pickens caught four passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with Rudolph for pass plays of 86, 44 and 66 yards, and 112 of his yards came after the catch.