Steelers' Kenny Pickett Out vs. Bengals With Ankle Injury; Mason Rudolph Will Start

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett will miss Saturday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals with an ankle sprain, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Mason Rudolph will start in his place.

Pickett exited Pittsburgh's 24-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 due to a high ankle sprain. He underwent surgery the following day and missed the following two contests against the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts.

While the Steelers declined to place Pickett on injured reserve, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported Dec. 6 there was an internal belief he could be out for four weeks. That's the minimum amount of time required to sit out with an IR designation anyway.

The ankle injury added to a frustrating season for Pickett, whose performance hasn't improved much from where it was in his rookie campaign.

Through 12 starts, he has thrown for 2,070 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 62 percent of his passes.

The trouble for the Steelers is that their alternative to Pickett isn't much better.

The ship has probably sailed on Mitch Trubisky being even a league-average quarterback at this point, and he has now been benched for Rudolph.

The biggest question surrounding the Steelers all year is whether erratic quarterback play will cancel out what is one of the NFL's best defenses and doom the team when it matters the most. That doesn't change whether Pickett, Trubisky or Rudolph is the one running the offense.