Mason Rudolph’s 2022 has been, to say the least, bizarre. And perhaps it could have an even stranger finish for the fifth-year Steelers quarterback.
With rookie starter Kenny Pickett concussed, and backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky injury, could it be time for Rudolph — who has been inactive each week this season — to get another look as the starting quarterback?
“I don’t know, it’s too early to tell,” said Rudolph Monday, less than 24 hours after the Steelers 16-14 loss. “No way to tell yet with concussion protocol. We’ll see.
“That’ll be something we’ll talk about today and tomorrow. I’m waiting to hear my involvement or level of my involvement this week. But I’m ready to rock.”
Coming out of the 2021 season, Rudolph was in line to be the team’s top quarterback. But Pittsburgh signed free agent Trubiksy, and drafted Pickett in the first round, and suddenly Rudolph was the odd man out.
During the summer, however, the former third-round pick appeared to be having the best training camp of the three. But his performance dipped off over the final couple of weeks and, despite a strong finish in the preseason finale, he was demoted from backup to third string.
He’s tried to stay as close to game ready as he can, even if Pickett and Trubisky have gotten the overwhelming majority of the practice reps.
“I’ve tried to stay consistent all year,” he said. “Whether that’s with the film aspect or just prepping, doing what I can to help the two other guys. They’re pros. They’ve got good routines down. But if I can bring a nugget here or there…
“And just physically, I don’t get a lot of reps in practice — but finding time to find a throw here or there during special teams or (individual drills). I’m just putting pressure on myself to be perfect in individual, in those short periods that I do have.”
Rudolph has not taken a game since last December’s 36-10 loss in Kansas City, when he relieved Ben Roethlisberger. He also started the team’s 16-16 tie with Detroit last year when Roethlisberger contracted covid-19.
Since the end of last season, however, he’s been on the sideline, out of uniform, each week.
“I put my headset on, I have my coaching hat on, on Sundays,” he said. “I try to do a good job to help any way I can and communicate, but sometimes less is more. I’m never going to annoy anyone with too much analytics.”
Rudolph joked the he ‘bartered’ with Pickett and Trubisky for a rep during the bye week, and that they obliged. But he did add that he hasn’t seen team practice rep since the team left Latrobe in August.
“It’s been a while,” he said, adding that he feels he can easily shake off any rust that might have accumulated.
If Pickett can’t play, the obvious choice is still likely Trubisky, who passed for 276 yards in relief of Pickett Sunday, and made some of the best throws of the season by a Pittsburgh quarterback.
But Trubisky was intercepted three times, all while Pittsburgh was driving for points, with two picks coming in the red zone.
And, of course, there’s always the potential that Pickett could return to play this week, as he did when suffering a concussion in an October game against Tampa Bay.
“There’s no two same concussions,” said Rudolph, who was also concussed by Baltimore during the 2019 season. “I think Kenny came back well from the first one. But I remember from my time… that first practice back you’re just, ‘am I cognitively there?’ You sometimes second guess yourself. But with enough practices, you get back into a flow.”
The odds that Rudolph — who many thought would be traded by now — will be in Pittsburgh next season are minimal. He has mostly said and done the right things, and supported his fellow quarterbacks throughout.
But a fresh opportunity will be best for him, and a chance to start Sunday against the Panthers, in his home state of North Carolina, could be a springboard to something better.
“I’m a competitor, so of course I want to play,” he said. “Every week, each day, I want to play, I want to practice. So I take advantage of the reps I do get. Any competitor wants to be out there for his team, winning, and putting his hand in the pile.”