Mike Vick went from helping to keep the Steelers afloat, from starting three games, winning two and holding the lead in another, to No. 3 quarterback behind Landry Jones and not suiting up the past four games.

If he has a hand in the outcome Sunday, it will have to come this week in practice when he mimics mobile Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in practice for the Steelers defense. Then, he will again watch out of uniform as Ben Roethlisberger takes CenturyLink Field in Seattle and Jones backs him up.

Once one of the NFL’s most dynamic quarterbacks, Vick finds himself in a position where the only way he can help now is through injury, in practices or as a sideline consultant.

“There’s still a lot of football games,” Vick said after the Steelers resumed practice Monday after their long weekend off. “I just have to do whatever I’m asked to do. I’m not in position to cry about it or talk about it. I have to be the consummate pro right now.

“I can say, do I like it? I can’t say it’s something as a competitor you want to do, but you have to keep rolling with the punches.

“I understand it, I understand the whole situation, and that makes it easier.”

The situation is this: Vick, signed late in the preseason, lost his job as a backup even though he was 2-1 as a starter and helped guide the Steelers to a 12-6 victory in St. Louis as a reliever. There, in the season’s third game, Roethlisberger left in the third quarter with a knee injury that would keep him out for the next four games.

Vick started the next game against Baltimore but two missed Josh Scobee field goals helped the Ravens win in overtime. He then started and won at San Diego. He left early in his next start against Arizona with a hamstring injury, and Jones came on to direct the offense to four consecutive scoring drives and a victory.

Jones started the next game, a loss in Kansas City, but Steelers coaches have decided to stay with the younger quarterback as No. 2, partly because he knows the offense much better. It was Jones who started their most recent game against Cleveland before he, too, was hurt, and Roethlisberger finished up the victory.

The Steelers did not sign Vick until Aug. 25, and he missed all of training camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe. He then took over as their quarterback one month later.

Although signed to a one-year contract, he would like to try it with them again next year with a full spring and training camp.

“I’ve thought about it. I think about maybe making next year my last year, play one more season. Give it everything I have. We’ll see what happens in the offseason. I still want to play.

“I wish I could have done a lot better this year. I felt like I did a good job coming in late and what I had to deal with. I feel like I can still play, man. I just understand the importance of the offseason.”

Who knows where Vick, 35, might be in his knowledge of the offense if the Steelers had signed him at least before training camp. Veteran backup Bruce Gradkowski opened camp on the physically-unable-to-perform list with a sore right shoulder that also kept him out in the spring.

Vick kept in shape after the Philadelphia Eagles released him early this year, but no one came knocking until the Steelers signed him Aug. 25. If he returns to play in 2016, he would like it to be with them again. Although with the Steelers only a short time, he feels like he has found a home.

“Absolutely, I’d definitely come back here,” Vick said. “Great people, great staff, great teammates. That’s what I fell in love with, my teammates, a bunch of great guys.

“That’s what (coach) Mike Tomlin told me before I came in, that there were a lot of good guys in this locker room, and it’s awesome.”

He would like to return even if Jones is the No. 2 quarterback.

“Absolutely. That’s what this game is all about, it’s all about competition, it’s all about seeing how far you’re willing to go to make yourself a success or find success. Whatever it takes to help this football team.”

If not, he will always have St. Louis.

“The truth of the matter is, having the chance to play in those games, especially the St. Louis one - the first time I went in I said, ‘Man, three weeks ago I wasn’t even signed. This is a blessing, I have a chance to play the game that I love under different circumstances.’

“Trying to find a comfort level was difficult, but, at the same time, I found a way, and that’s what I’m most proud of. Doing it the right way, doing the right thing. That’s what it’s all about.”