Steelers’ Kenny Pickett, who didn’t play against the Seahawks, refused to be Mason Rudolph’s backup

Many sources revealed the Kenny Pickett pick wasn't ready to dress in the Steelers' jersey if he wasn't the starter.

Steelers’ Kenny Pickett, who didn’t play against the Seahawks, refused to be Mason Rudolph’s backup

Mason Rudolph and Kenny Pickett (Via NFL.com/90.5 WESA)

The Pittsburgh Steelers are quite in the news these days, but it’s not for their wild-card chances of making it to the playoffs. The hot topic is the demotion of Kenny Pickett. 

There have been a lot of speculations surrounding why the franchise decided not to make him active in Monday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks. But it seems like the real reason has finally been revealed!

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According to The Athletic, when quarterback Pickett got the promotion news of Mason Rudolph as starting against the Seahawks, Pickett refused to be named as active as his backup. As many sources revealed the 2021 first-round pick wasn’t ready to dress in the Steelers’ jersey if he wasn’t the starter.

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Ahead of the Monday Night Football game, head coach Mike Tomlin had a conversation with Pickett about making him the third quarterback against the Seahawks, but the discussion concluded with the QB remaining inactive. As Dejan Kovacevic from the DK Pittsburgh Sports reported, Pickett wasn’t cleared to play until Thursday.

When Tomlin was approached by the media on Pickett’s inactiveness, despite being cleared to play. 

That clarity didn't come until later in the week, and it was about the distribution of reps and who was best prepared and positioned to help us win. And so, that's the direction that we went with.
The head coach said

How Mason Rudolph turned the Steelers’ offense around after Kenny Pickett’s disappointing season

Under Rudolph, who took over as starting after week 15’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Steelers have witnessed a sudden improvement as the offense has exploded with 32 points and 432.5 yards per game. In the New Year’s game, the quarterback recorded 18 out of his 24 attempts for 274 yards with zero interceptions.

Mason Rudolph
Mason Rudolph (Via ESPN)

Meanwhile, quarterback Pickett has largely struggled throughout his second season with the Steelers. On one hand, Rudolph produced QBRs of 70.9 and 79.1 in both starts; on the other, Pickett has a 38.8 QBR.

After getting drafted in 2018, all the times that Rudolph has replaced the starting quarterback, the results have been good only for the franchise. Currently, he is averaging 282 passing yards per game, while Pickett’s average is 172.5 per game this season.

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