Steelers Rule Kenny Pickett Out Against Seahawks

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without Kenny Pickett in Week 17.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers will be without Kenny Pickett in Week 17 against the Seattle Seahawks, ruling him inactive after coming into the weekend as questionable.

Pickett returned to practice last week with hopes of being back on the field. After being ruled out, the team turned to Mason Rudolph as their starter, who threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns in his season debut as QB1. This week, head coach Mike Tomlin announced the Steelers would stick with Rudolph and continue to monitor Pickett's recovery. 

Pickett admitted he believed he was ready to return to the field, but acknowledged it was the coaches and medical staff who were keeping the process slow. He was able to take a step forward in practice this week despite being limited all three days, and was ruled questionable heading into the game. 

However, he was determined not to be ready to return, and will miss his fourth game with the ankle injury. 

Head coach Mike Tomlin offered some insight into why the team chose to stick with Rudolph as their starter as they playoffs approach. 

"Mason played a really good game, and we want to give him an opportunity to maybe build upon that and us to build upon that," Tomlin told Steelers.com's Bob Labriola. "That was the reason why we inserted him into the lineup. You know, we weren't going to continue to do similar things and hope for a different result. We needed to produce more points, score more touchdowns. We were able to do that, and so I'm excited about the prospects of seeing what we can do in his second outing."

Another strong performance against the Seahawks could bring into question the team's starting quarterback in the regular season finale against the Baltimore Ravens. 

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