As fate wanted, Mason Rudolph’s biggest game of the season is also the Cleveland Browns’ biggest game in more than a decade.
Despite their sordid history, the latter has little effect on motivating the former.
“I really couldn’t care less who the opponent is,” said Pittsburgh Steelers reserve quarterback on Friday during his first media availability in the regular season. “It’s great for me, anyway, because it’s an opportunity for me (and) many other guys to show (and) show themselves to our teammates and our coaches. This is what is motivating me. ”
The player most likely to disrupt Rudolph’s cause in his first game as a full-back in 13 months is also the individual most likely to reverse Sunday’s game narrative from the implications of the playoff to a new hash of the horrific incident in the last seconds the last time the Steelers played in Cleveland: Myles Garrett.
Garrett ripped off Rudolph’s helmet and hit him on the head with him at the end of a 21-7 victory for the Browns on November 14, 2019. Garrett was suspended for the remainder of the last season as a result, and Rudolph was removed after a start slow on your next departure 10 days later.
Garrett has since accused Rudolph of using a racial slur, something the NFL said it found no evidence of. Garrett regained his status as one of the league’s best defenders this season, and Rudolph has returned to Ben Roethlisberger’s reserve after Roethlisberger returned from elbow surgery.
But with the Steelers stuck in the second or third position in the AFC playoff and choosing to give the 38-year-old quarterback a rest, Rudolph has a valuable chance to audition to be Roethlisberger’s successor or at least his long-term reserve. after the end of Rudolph’s contract next season.
“I see myself as (a future starter), and I think there are a lot of defenders behind the Hall of Fame defenders and that has benefited them in the future,” said Rudolph. “And I think it’s a good thing to sit down and watch a guy work like Ben, who has so many years of reps and so much knowledge of the game and is willing to pass it on.”
Offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said he would not review the attack for Rudolph. Rudolph does regular training repetitions for the main team every Wednesday, and he spent more training than that as the No. 1 quarterback in 2020 because of the times Roethlisberger missed training due to minor injuries or on the reserve / covid list -19.
A third-round pick in the 2018 QB draft, Rudolph was a player the Steelers insisted they had scored in the first round after his prolific career in Oklahoma. After being a healthy zero for games in his debut season, Rudolph completed 62.2% of his passes for 6.2 yards per attempt with 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions in 10 games (eight matches) last season.
He showed some flashes of potential, but he also had some bad displays, like throwing four interceptions in the infamous defeat mentioned earlier for the Browns.
“It has improved every year in terms of understanding and knowledge of the offense, reading, projections,” said Roethlisberger. “He is physically talented, we know that. He is smart. We know that he can do all the bids and do things ”
Rudolph’s playing time this season was limited to the duty to “clean up”. Without the benefit of pre-season game representatives during the season affected by the pandemic, Rudolph said he had made progress in refining his games during the training camp.
Throughout the week, teammates made unsolicited comments about the level of excitement that Rudolph showed by having the chance to start a meaningful game.
“It’s fun to be outside,” said Rudolph. “It feels totally different. It’s fun. It will be a real deal on Sunday. ”
Chris Adamski is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Chris by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
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Sports | Steelers / NFL