Mason Rudolph stood on the sidelines for every Steelers game last season, watching and waiting for his chance. It never came in 2018. But life, as they say, can come at you fast.
Rudolph, who beat out last year's backup quarterback, Joshua Dobbs, has been thrust into the starters position following Ben Roethlisberger's season-ending elbow injury.
"It's crazy, losing the leader of our team," Rudolph said Monday afternoon. "It's a crazy turn of events with an injury. But I'm excited to step up. That's what backups do, that's what I've done my entire career. Whether it be high school, college or now. Nothing different from me. I'm going to be the same person I am and continue to prepare."
Rudolph played the entire second half of Sunday's game against Seattle, passing for 112 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Now he will spend the week, for the first time since he left Oklahoma State, preparing as the starter.
"I'm a big prep guy," he said. "Having a whole week of reps, instead of just a Wednesday, it'll be awesome. Any time you can get the muscle memory, that's a huge part of it."
Rudolph claims to have been patient in 2018. He was inactive for every game and ran the scout team in practice. He watched other members of his draft class, like Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson, all get chances and, in some cases, star in their rookie years. He never got a snap.
"There have been plenty of quarterbacks who have played immediately and I was encouraged by that," Rudolph said. "You have people on the side telling you that stuff. That's all fine and dandy. In the moment you want to play. You're pissed. It's all short-term. I tried to have a long-term mentality and understand that, hopefully, I'll be playing this game a long time. As long as I'm ready for my opportunity, that's all that matters."
His opportunity is now.
"It's a sucky circumstance with our leader and a good friend going down," he said. "But he would want me to step up and lead to the best of my ability. That'll be fun to go into a game and feel a little bit more rehearsed and prepared."
Rudolph was able to get some reps with the first team this year, as Ben Roethlisberger takes Wednesdays off. It was during this past week that Rudolph learned about the 37-year-old veteran experiencing discomfort in his throwing elbow.
"Really the first I heard of it was this past week," he said. "Right after the New England game he was expressing some pain. But that was the first I heard."
Roethlisberger and Rudolph's time together got off to a rocky start. Shortly after Rudolph was drafted, Roethlisberger, on 93.7 The Fan, was asked if he would take the rookie under his wing.
"Well, I don't think I'll need to now that he's said that he doesn't need me," Roethlisberger said, seemingly mischaracterizing something Rudolph said the night he was drafted. "So if he asks me a question, I might have to just point to the playbook, you know."
Things have changed, according to Rudolph, who said he will turn to Roethlisberger for advice going forward.
"When you're the backup you don't want to overburden the starter with questions. But he's been great with answering them. Our relationship definitely seems to have grown this year… He's done a great job opening up to myself and the rest of the guys in the room.
"He's a legend, he's a future Hall of Famer and unbelievable player. I truly do learn something every week from him, whether that be communication-wise or his creativity in no-huddle. He's a great player. I'm going to continue to lean on him and continue to meet with him during the week."
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