The Steelers made a quarterback change in last Sunday’s game and they are sticking with Devlin Hodges for this weekend’s game against the Browns.
Mason Rudolph will head to the bench after making eight starts in the wake of Ben Roethlisberger’s season-ending elbow injury. There were some good moments for Rudolph, but five interceptions in his last six quarters of play became too much for him to overcome.
On Thursday, Rudolph said he will handle head coach Mike Tomlin’s decision with “a team-first attitude” and that he’s taking to heart the coach’s statement that nothing has been decided beyond this week’s starting quarterback.
“I’d been benched once in college for a half and once in high school,” Rudolph said, via ESPN.com. “So yeah, there’s some past experiences you do draw from. I conquered that, and I think I’ll conquer this the same way. Just going to be a matter of staying true to myself and believing in myself and staying in the fight.”
Rudolph may get another shot in Pittsburgh, but there’s less talk about his potential as Roethlisberger’s long-term heir than there was earlier this season and the offseason may send the team looking elsewhere now that they’ve experienced a long run without the veteran quarterback in the lineup.