Steelers' Mason Rudolph Explains Mindset Of Being A Great Backup: "Screw It"

The Pittsburgh Steelers are still trying to figure out who their starting quarterback will be for their upcoming Week 12 game. Aaron Rodgers has expressed his desire and confidence to play, but coming back from a broken wrist is very hard to do, even if it's just a slight break. If he can't go, Mason Rudolph will get the nod on Sunday. For now, he is taking all the first-team reps at practice, and that is expected to be the case again, despite the expectation that the starter in Rodgers will be back on Thursday. 

This type of situation is nothing new to Rudolph. During a recent media availability, he explained how he gets mentally prepared to play, no matter what.

"I have plenty of experiences going back and forth between different roles," Rudolph said. "It’s probably chilled out my personality a little bit. I just say screw it and roll with the punches. I have a lot of different experiences to draw from. Whether you find out the day before, or you’re thrown in there in the first quarter, or you get all the reps, you definitely draw from those experiences."

Rudolph has experience with both expecting to be the starting quarterback and just waiting on the sideline to hear his name called. He has had some very good moments and a lot of horrible ones as well, especially early on in his career. Now, he is a seasoned veteran backup, and it doesn't take much for him to get ready and play ball, whether he's coming in cold or not.

Rudolph's best moment came in a year where he was expected to be a healthy scratch every week as the third-string quarterback. An injury to Kenny Pickett, followed by terrible play from Mitch Trubisky, led to Head Coach Mike Tomlin giving Rudolph a chance to save Christmas in 2023, and also the season. He did exactly that, as Pittsburgh won its last three regular season games and snuck into the playoffs.

Of course, he was also benched in 2019, as every time he had some sort of momentum, it got set back. He had a decent start to the season for a guy that never played in the NFL before, only to get sandwiched by the Baltimore Ravens, leading to him getting knocked out cold and having to miss a game due to a concussion. 

He was clearly not the same after that, as he seemed scared to leave the pocket. After a string of wins, a rough game against the Cleveland Browns led to the infamous Myles Garrett situation, and he got benched the next week. When he came back against the New York Jets, he played great, but a bad snap led to a big hit that separated his shoulder and ended his season. 

Since then, he has bounced around in different roles, including spending a year with the Tennessee Titans where he was QB1 for a short period of time. At this point, he has seen quite a bit, and it has turned him from a polarizing figure to a figure of stability in the Steelers' quarterback room, with a lot of what-ifs on his development when he was still young. 

Steelers Quarterbacks Have Different Experiences To Teach Rookie

Between Rudolph's roller coaster of a career and Rodgers experiencing the highest of highs along with the lowest of lows, there is practically nothing that they haven't seen or done, which makes it easy for rookie Will Howard to learn from them both. 

One thing the two veterans have in common is their own mentors not giving them the attention they need, and they won't let Howard get the same treatment.

What do you think about Rudolph's mindset as a veteran backup at this point? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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