Steelers' Minkah Fitzpatrick out for Week 16 vs Bengals

The hits keep on coming for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mike Tomlin revealed on Monday that safety Minkah Fitzpatrick will not play in Week 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals due to the knee injury he sustained against the Colts.

Although Fitzpatrick is out for the Bengals game, the Steelers could return safety Elijah Riley this week. Riley has been dealing with a high-ankle sprain. Defensive tackle Cam Heyward is another defender questionable for Week 16. The veteran is in concussion protocol.

Fitzpatrick has been a key piece of the Steelers defense this year, which is a huge reason why Pittsburgh is 7-7 despite its struggles on offense. He has 64 tackles and a tackle for loss across nine games this year, but still has yet to record an interception after pulling down a career-high six picks last year.

Fitzpatrick’s knee injury came one play after fellow safety Damontae Kazee was ejected for a hit on Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman. That also resulted in a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness. Kazee has now been suspended for the remainder of the 2023 season.

Steelers to start Mason Rudolph over Mitch Trubisky

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin announced a switch at quarterback for Week 16 on Monday afternoon. Backup quarterback Mason Rudolph will take the job versus the Bengals instead of Mitch Trubisky who got the start on Saturday against the Colts in place of injured Kenny Pickett. The Steelers fell 30-13 to the Colts even as Tomlin swapped the QBs late in the game.

“As I stand here today, Mason Rudolph is the guy with the ball,” Tomlin said on Monday. Despite making the announcement, the head coach said the door is still “ajar” for Pickett to return to the field this week.

“It’s our intention as we sit here today to give Mason Rudolph an opportunity to start,” Tomlin added. “He’s a veteran guy, he’s a backup but he’s a veteran guy. We have a great deal of comfort with him. Why are we making the change? We don’t like what we’re looking at and the consistency of it. We’re not scoring enough points.

“Particularly as you move into December football. You’ve got to score more than 14, 16 points this time of year. The engineering of a victory isn’t going to be fluid without doing those things.”