PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Proud of how he's competed this camp, quarterback Mason Rudolph heads into a game Sunday which could be his last with the Steelers.
He began the 2022 NFL year as the only Steelers quarterback signed. He witnessed the team go after a reclamation project free agent in Mitch Trubisky and then draft Kenny Pickett in the first round. When camp opened, Rudolph was clearly the second-string and early in camp was the only other quarterback than Trubisky to get first-team snaps, albeit just a couple.
Now he's firmly on the third team and his future is very much up in the air. Rudolph said he's got another week and an opportunity on Sunday against Detroit to show what he can do.
"I think the plan that was laid out in the beginning in the Spring, was the plan for the Spring," Rudolph said of the QB reps. "We don't get any heads up 'this is what is going to happen on August 15th'. How do you react to the hand that you've been dealt and how do you overcome adversity?"
"I've done that well."
He's been through a lot in his short time with the Steelers from the Myles Garrett incident to a cold relationship with Ben Roethlisberger. The stats show him as a QB with a 5-4-1 record with 2,366 career passing yards, a 61.5 completion percentage, 16 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. The Steelers should know him by now. Are we to the point where he is just basically trying out for any other team interested?
"All I care about is this coaching staff right now, (but) maybe so," Rudolph admitted Thursday. "I can't control it. I try not to speculate on that. My teammates and my coaches are the opinions I care about everything else is water under the bridge."
Rudolph said he's unaware of the 'rat poison' on social media or anything that is said or written in the traditional media. He's not going back and forth with every rumor.
As he told us last week, he would have enjoyed to take some more first-team reps, but he never got the chance. The 2018 third-round pick with a Steelers first-round grade said he made the most of the reps he did get. He's satisfied that he did all he could do with the opportunity he had.
That either lands him in Pittsburgh on the third-team or lands him in another city altogether.
