INDIANAPOLIS — Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin promised to do things differently going forward after his team’s 30-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, and that could include the quarterback position.
A week prior, after losing to the New England Patriots, Tomlin was steadfast that Mitch Trubisky would get the opportunity to make his second consecutive start. Late in the game against the Colts, after Trubisky threw his second interception, Tomlin went to Mason Rudolph at quarterback for the final two minutes.
This time, he made no proclamations about who will be his starter in one week’s time against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“I don’t have answers as I sit here right now,” Tomlin said. “I know that we’d better do some things differently. We’d better approach some things differently. We’re not going to roll that ball out there like that next week.”
Asked specifically about the play of Trubisky, Tomlin said “none of us were good enough, starting first and foremost with myself.”
Tomlin hasn’t benched a quarterback in-game at any point this season. He gave a minimal explanation for doing so at such a late hour in this contest.
“We didn’t do enough of anything well today,” he said.
Tomlin doubled down on promising changes, though he continued to be vague on what kind of changes those might be.
“We’re not going to keep doing the same things that we’re doing and expect or hope for a different result,” he said. “We’ve got a seven-day turnaround. We’ll see what those seven days hold for us. … Everything is on the table at this juncture. We can’t play football like that.”
Both Rudolph and Trubisky said they don’t know what’s going to happen next.
“Go back to work,” Trubisky said. “See what they want to do.”
“We’ll see,” Rudolph said. “That’s a coaching decision. … We’ll see what happens. That’s out of my hands.”
Of course, Tomlin might not be choosing just between Trubisky and Rudolph. Steelers starter Kenny Pickett is apparently pushing to make a Week 16 return in what will likely be a must-win game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Pickett missed the last two games with a high ankle sprain that required surgery in Week 13 against the Arizona Cardinals.