Steelers, Mike Tomlin taking ‘prudent’ approach making Aaron Rodgers inactive vs. Bears

Despite his best efforts, Aaron Rodgers will not face his former rival on Sunday when the Steelers face the Bears in Chicago. 

As Steelers coach Mike Tomlin stated, Rodgers did everything within his power to put himself in position to play a week after suffering a fracture to his left wrist. But ultimately, Tomlin felt that the best course of action was to rest Rodgers while giving the keys of the offense to veteran quarterback Mason Rudolph, who has an 8-4-1 record as Pittsburgh’s QB1. 

“He fought his tail off all week, but that’s the prudent play for us to make as a collective,” Tomlin told Evan Washburn on NFL Today+. “He won’t be playing this week. We’ll let Mason start, and obviously, he’s absorbed most of the reps this week.” 

While likely not an easy one to make, Tomlin’s decision was undoubtedly based on two determining factors. 

Both Tomlin and Rodgers had said all week that the later needed to show that he could display normal functions of playing the position while also showing the ability to protect himself. Clearly, Rodgers didn’t show at least one of those functions, at least not up to Tomlin’s liking. 

Secondly, Tomlin has a more than capable backup who — as Tomlin himself noted — received the majority of the first-team reps during this week’s practices. Rudolph, 30, went 12 of 16 for 127 yards and a touchdown during last week’s win over the Bengals. He led Pittsburgh on scoring drives on each of its two second half possessions. 

“He has an unwavering belief in self,” Tomlin recently said of Rudolph. “I’ve been around him a number of years. Very rarely do we see him shaken or lacking in confidence, and that’s certainly a good skill-set to have under those circumstances.” 

At this point, we don’t know if Rodgers had been medically cleared to play by Pittsburgh’s medical staff. If he wasn’t, then Tomlin’s decision was basically made for him. But if Rodgers was indeed cleared for action, it makes Tomlin’s decision to go with Rudolph rather notable. 

Instead of choosing to go with a future Hall of Fame quarterback who eagerly wanted to face a longtime rival, Tomlin instead decided to go with the healthier, albeit less accomplished player whom Tomlin clearly feels gives his team the best chance to win. 

Regardless of what happens on Sunday, Tomlin’s decision was ultimately the right one. Rodgers is dealing with a rather significant injury. Instead of further putting him in harms way, Tomlin is giving Rudolph another chance to lead the Steelers’ offense after doing so with considerable success last week.