PITTSBURGH -- Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers will not need surgery to repair a fracture to his left, non-throwing wrist, coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday.
Tomlin did not rule the quarterback out for Sunday's game at the Chicago Bears, and the veteran's status will be determined later in the week.
"Really, it's just about bracing and securing it for his comfort and safety," Tomlin said. "And then, it's about how functional he is."
The coach said that Rodgers, 41, will not practice Wednesday, and that Friday will be a key day in evaluating the quarterback's status for Sunday's game at the Bears.
"We'll see where the week leads us, and we'll take it day by day," Tomlin said, adding that Rodgers will have some say in his game status. "It's his body, so certainly he's going to be a component of the discussion."
Several factors will ultimately determine Rodgers' availability, Tomlin said. Not only does the wrist have to be stabilized, but the coaching and medical staffs will need to monitor the quarterback's pain level, effectiveness and ability to protect and brace himself.
"Functionality is a component of it," Tomlin said. "I don't need it for my comfort, but I certainly need it for functionality, and functionality is a major component of whether or not he gets an opportunity this week. "... It's about stabilizing it; it's about making sure that he can manage the pain -- that doesn't appear to be an issue."
Facing the Bears, a team that Rodgers owns a 24-5 record against, doesn't have any bearing on the veteran's determination to play.
"Aaron always wants to play," Tomlin said. "Opponent has nothing to do with it. It's his love affair with the game of football."
With Rodgers sidelined, backups Mason Rudolph and rookie Will Howard will get on-field work ahead of the Bears game. Rudolph is in line to start if Rodgers can't go, but there's a possibility of Howard, who was activated from injured reserve last week after fracturing a pinkie finger in training camp, working with the starting offense in practice.
"We'll see," Tomlin said when asked about Howard getting first-team reps. "We'll see where the week goes."
Rudolph took over after Rodgers' second-quarter injury Sunday and completed 12 of 16 attempts for 127 yards in the Steelers' 34-12 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
"When you're preparing during the course of a week as a backup, you have a limited number of reps," Tomlin said, praising Rudolph's performance. "Usually the guts of the plan are geared toward the specific talents of the starters, and so you may get some reps, but it might not be plays that are perfectly in your wheelhouse. He's always found a way to manage those challenges, to remain confident, for that confidence to ooze out of him and be a catalyst for a collective performance, and we got that."
Tomlin said Rodgers wanted to go back into the game Sunday. He didn't come back onto the field after halftime, though, because doctors were working to determine the severity of his injury and stabilize the wrist. Rodgers greeted his teammates in the hallway to the locker room after the win with his left hand in the pocket of his black sweatshirt.
Tomlin said the game plan won't change dramatically from one quarterback to the other, though he acknowledged that it could be tailored more toward Rudolph if he gets the nod.
"Everyone's different, particularly at the quarterback position," Tomlin said. "We certainly, if Mason's our guy this week, we want to work within his comfort zone. The things that he sees and does well that might differ from Aaron and so, but again, it is all within the framework of what it is that we do."
Tomlin said Rudolph and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith already meet weekly to highlight specific areas of the game plan that work to Rudolph's strengths in the event he has to come off the bench, so this week's preparation doesn't deviate drastically from the norm. After Sunday's win, teammates expressed confidence in Rudolph, who was selected by the organization in the third round of the 2018 draft and boosted the Steelers' push to the playoffs in three starts to close the 2023 season.
"A lot of guys that were on that team are still here, and that's why it's like with Mason it is no blinking or anything," wide receiver Calvin Austin III said. "In the past it may have been, but with Mason it's just like, 'OK, let's go.' ... He's very talented. He has great confidence in himself as well, and it's for a quarterback and the guy leading the team, you want that, and I think we're going to be full steam ahead."