On 1st day of Steelers OTAs, quarterbacks reflect on death of Dwayne Haskins

Four quarterbacks lined up behind center and took snaps Tuesday for the Pittsburgh Steelers on the first day of organized team activities.

Mason Rudolph couldn’t help but think about one who should have been on the field with them but wasn’t.

The voluntary workout was the first for the Steelers since Dwayne Haskins was struck by a dump truck and died April 9 while walking along a South Florida interstate.

“I walked up today to the quarterback room … and the guy who used to sit across the room in very same row that I did (wasn’t there),” Rudolph said. “It’s just sobering that he’s never going to walk back into the room.”

Haskins, 24 and a former first-round draft pick with Washington, was preparing for his second season with the Steelers when he died. He was expected to compete for the starting job alongside Rudolph and free-agent signee Mitch Trubisky. Since his death, the Steelers drafted Kenny Pickett in the first round and Chris Oladokun in the seventh so they could have four quarterbacks on the 90-man offseason roster.

Haskins was legally intoxicated at the time of his death, but his final hours were not how Rudolph chose to remember him.

“A lot has been said about how great of a guy he was to work with. He really was,” Rudolph said. “Every time he came into the quarterback room, he had a smile on his face, and he kept it light and was a good teammate. Regardless of being quarterbacks and competing against each other — that can be at times awkward — he was a good teammate to me and everybody.

“I’m still kind of adjusting to him never being in the quarterback room again. It’s sad and hard to wrap your head around.”

Haskins was in South Florida with several teammates working out along with Trubisky, who signed with the Steelers in March and has a residence there.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Trubisky said. “I think about him every day. I only knew him for a short time, but he definitely left an impact on my life in the short time I knew him, and I think about him every day when I wake up, step on the field, all those things. He’s in our hearts, and all we can do is go out there and honor him every day with how we live our lives.”