Mason Rudolph is preparing to make his first start at quarterback for the Steelers since 2021 when they host the Bengals on Saturday.
But his focus isn't on showing the league or his teammates anything special. Rudolph has just one goal in mind.
"I'm not worried about showing anything," Rudolph said Tuesday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex as the Steelers (7-7) began their on-field preparations to host the Bengals (8-6). "We're about winning the game this week."
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Monday he was making the switch to Rudolph, who has been with the team since 2018, in place of Mitch Trubisky. Trubisky had started the past two games in place of injured starter Kenny Pickett, but the Steelers lost both times.
There remains an outside chance that Pickett, who had surgery on his ankle earlier this month, could return to play in this game. But barring that, Rudolph is expected to make his 11th career start.
The majority of those starts came in 2019 after Ben Roethlisberger went down with a season-ending elbow injury in Week 2. Rudolph went on to start eight games and throw nine touchdown passes against three interceptions in his first six starts, leading the Steelers to a 4-2 record in those games.
Included in that stretch was a game against the Bengals in which he got his first career win after completing 24 of 28 passes for 229 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, posting a 124.6 passer rating in a 27-3 victory.
But he threw four interceptions in a Thursday night game at Cleveland in a game in which both Diontae Johnson and JuJu Smith-Schuster exited in the game early because of injuries, leaving him with James Washington, Johnny Holton and Tevin Jones to play most of the second half at wide receiver.
Since then, Rudolph has started a regular season finale against the Browns in 2020, throwing for 315 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in a loss in a game in which the Steelers were resting a number of starters, and a spot start in 2021 against the Lions that ended in a 16-16 tie.
Rudolph didn't learn he was starting that game until less than 24 hours in advance after Roethlisberger was ruled out after testing positive with COVID-19 the night before the game.
"I'm real familiar with Mason," said Johnson. "We've been here together since I came in. He's a year ahead of me. He brings that grit that you're looking for, that he's not going to give up. He's going to come in and do his job at 100 percent. I have full confidence in Mason that he's going to come in and do his job and get everyone the ball. It's our job to just rally around him."
Johnson, tight end Pat Freiermuth and running back Najee Harris are the only offensive skill players who were with the Steelers when he made his last start.
•Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast
As one of the team's elder statesmen, he's worked hard to form relationships with all of the offensive skill players on the roster – even if he hadn't necessarily gotten to work with them much during the season when he was taking third-team reps.
"I've got a lot of good relationships with the guys in the locker room," Rudolph said. "I think anytime you're here as long as I've been here, you had better have some or you're probably not a good dude. But yeah, guys are excited for me and I'm excited to go out there and you know, you think as it has a third-string quarterback, you feel like you're sort really earning your paycheck week to week. And so I finally get to earn it this week and put my hand in the pile and go fight for victory together."
And at 28, Rudolph feels he's in a much better spot as a professional than he was earlier in his career, even though he hasn't played much over the past couple of years, getting just 16 snaps over the past two seasons.
"I think you're always trying to grow and develop," Rudolph said. "And I think with (quarterbacks coach) Mike Sullivan, having him for my third season now and be in the room with a guy who's done it at a high level for a long time and learning everything I can about the game of football, I think when I go out there I'm a little bit more relaxed and calm. I understand the game. It's cliche, but I think it has slowed down, and you gain confidence from that."
Because of that and his past experience, Rudolph doesn't feel pressure going into this game.
He just wants to let things play out and take what he can.
"I think we want to obviously move the chains and score points," Rudolph said. "But, that doesn't mean you have to be foolish with the football. That's it. Find the open guy and take what the defense gives you. Check the ball down when you need to, and don't try to be the hero. And I think when you think like that, you don't put too much pressure on yourself and play smooth."
