Steelers Bench Mitchell Trubisky; Rudolph to Be QB1 vs. Bengals If Pickett Can't Play

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin named Mason Rudolph as the starter on Monday for the team's crucial Week 16 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Mitchell Trubisky had taken over as the starting quarterback after Kenny Pickett suffered an ankle injury in Week 13. The Steelers, in the process, lost three straight games.

Tomlin did add during his Monday press conference that the Steelers were leaving "the door ajar" for Pickett should he be healthy enough to return this week.

Rudolph, 28, has appeared in 18 games (10 starts) for the Steelers since being a third-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft, throwing for 2,369 yards, 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while completing 61.5 percent of his passes. The Steelers are 5-4-1 in his starts.

"He's a veteran guy. He's a backup, but he's also a veteran guy. He's been in our program a long time. He's here for those reasons," Tomlin said of Rudolph. "We've got a great deal of comfort with him. Why are we making the change? We don't like what we're looking at, the consistency of it. What I mean is, we're not scoring enough points."

Trubisky, 29, has undoubtedly struggled as the team's starter this year, throwing for 632 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions in five total appearances while taking seven sacks and completing 62.6 percent of his passes.

The Steelers are a shocking 0-5 in games he's played this season, though he was a late insertion into a 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans in early October. Pittsburgh's offense hasn't been good this season, ranking 28th in scoring (15.9 PPG) and 27th in yardage (287.1 YPG), but it's been worse under Trubisky.

So Rudolph gets his chance, right before Christmas, hoping to light the path to a playoff berth for the 7-7 Steelers.