Mason Rudolph or Devlin Hodges? That has been the main question in Pittsburgh following Hodges' impressive performance during the Steelers' Week 6 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, during a brief meeting with the media on Wednesday, put an end to the speculation, saying Mason Rudolph will resume his duties as the team's starter whenever he exits the league's concussion protocol. 

"Yes," Tomlin said when asked if Rudolph would be the team's starter, "if that makes you guys feel good." 

Tomlin was then asked if the Steelers' draft stock in Rudolph (he was the 78th overall pick in the 2018 draft) is one of the reasons why he will remain the starting quarterback. 

"Seriously guys, that guy is our quarterback when he clears the protocol, and it's as simple as that," Tomlin said. "Appreciate the efforts of Duck and so forth, but as soon as [Rudolph] is ready to go, he's ready to go." 

Hodges, who also goes by the nickname of "Duck," went 15 of 20 for 132 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the Steelers' victory over the Chargers. In two games this season, Hodges has completed 75.9 percent of his passes while compiling a 91.2 passer rating. 

"He didn't kill us, you know?" Tomlin said when asked to assess Hodges' first career start. "And that's what you need from young quarterbacks. He generally took care of the ball, he made the plays he needed to make. But we were thoughtful about the positions that we put him in. We converted three or four possession downs via the run. Many others we dumped off in the flat and allowed James Conner to win 'em after the catch. We did the things that we needed to do to secure victory in that instance."

Rudolph has completed 67 percent of his passes for 646 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions while posting a 102.5 passer rating. His best performance of the season took place in Week 4, when he went 24 of 28 for 227 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in the Steelers' 27-3 rout of the visiting Cincinnati Bengals. He's been in the league's concussion protocol since sustaining a nasty hit from safety Earl Thomas during Pittsburgh's Week 5 overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens.  

"Really, there's no extreme urgency in terms of getting him out of the protocol because we don't work again until Monday," Tomlin said with regard to Rudolph's current status. "He's been fully cleared to participate in the things that we've been doing. He would have been a full participant had we chosen to work out today. So it's probably semantics or whatever in terms of him getting clearance." 

While Tomlin defiantly answered the question with regard to his quarterbacks, Pittsburgh receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, during Tuesday's media availability, made it clear that he and his teammates have faith in both quarterbacks. 

"You got two young guys who are both hungry," Smith-Schuster said of Rudolph and Hodges, via WXPI's Chase Williams. "Both guys who can play in a game and have already been in position where both have helped win us games."