PITTSBURGH _ With Mason Rudolph widely expected to be unavailable for the regular-season finale Sunday in Baltimore, that means Devlin "Duck" Hodges is back as the top QB option, and Paxton Lynch is one snap _ or maybe one or two interceptions _ away from being the Steelers quarterback.
Wait, what?
"I feel good. Whatever they need me to do, I'll be ready to do it," Lynch said Monday afternoon, not 24 hours after the Steelers lost Rudolph to a shoulder injury in the second half Sunday against the Jets. "That's why they brought me here _ to help this team win if I was called upon, so that's what I'll be ready for."
Lynch, who has been inactive as the third quarterback for the past nine games, arrived at the South Side practice facility and got in a workout. Then, he did some running. After that, it was time for his first meeting of what could be the final week of the Steelers' season.
But before that, Lynch had been told nothing about the state of the team's quarterback position. Coach Mike Tomlin will address that Tuesday at his weekly news conference. In a season that has already featured its fair share of surreal developments on the quarterback front, who's to say that a 6-foot-7 former first-round draft pick won't end up playing meaningful snaps for the Steelers in a game that could determine their postseason fate?
"It's tough, but like I said, they brought me in here for if they needed me," said Lynch, who hasn't suited up on game day since Week 6 when Rudolph missed the Chargers game because of a concussion. "If they need me this week, I'm going to do everything I can to be prepared to play."
Should Rudolph be ruled out and Hodges falter _ he has thrown six interceptions over the past two games, which included being benched for Rudolph at MetLife Stadium _ Lynch could get a chance to hang onto his NFL career. After being out of the league in 2018, he spent this past preseason with Seattle, completing 18 of 37 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown.
While he didn't make the Seahawks roster, he signed with the Steelers after Ben Roethlisberger was lost for the season with an elbow injury. Lynch, 25, was promoted to the active roster after Rudolph's concussion, but his practice participation has been limited to running the scout team offense.
"I've been preparing like I was going to play each week, knowing that I was inactive," Lynch said, "but there were a few weeks where I didn't know if I was going to get bumped up or not."
And now comes a Sunday that he might not only get bumped up, but bumped in _ possibly with the season on the line.
On his sixth and final carry of the game Sunday, James Conner was tackled by a gang of Jets and never returned. The Steelers called it a thigh injury, and Conner himself now claims to be waiting for results of an MRI.
"I've just got to wait to see what it says," Conner said Monday.
Conner, who returned in Week 15 against Buffalo after missing all or part of the previous six games with a shoulder injury, is taking his newest setback "day by day."
"It's frustrating," Conner said. "It's part of the game, though."
With Conner going down early in the second quarter, Kerrith Whyte led the Steelers in rushing yards with 22 and Benny Snell in carries with seven. Conner had the only two runs of 10 or more yards against the Jets.
