Steelers confident Mason Rudolph can rebound from worst NFL start

Before the final eight seconds transpired at FirstEnergy Stadium, Mason Rudolph already was set to the face the most challenging week of preparation in his young NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Before Rudolph scuffled with Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, before he was hit on the head by his own helmet and a week before he was accused of making a racial slur, the second-year quarterback was producing arguably the worst 60-minute performance by a Steelers quarterback in the Mike Tomlin era.

Rudolph’s four interceptions in the 21-7 loss were the most thrown by a Steelers quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger threw a career-high five in October 2017 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Rudolph’s 36.3 passer rating was the lowest by a Steelers starter who played an entire game since Roethlisberger’s 30.7 rating in September 2006, when Bill Cowher was coach.

Rudolph completed 23 of 44 attempts for 221 yards, and he was sacked four times — the most by a Steelers quarterback since last season’s opener — before being wrestled to the ground by Garrett after throwing one final pass.

What followed was an ugly incident that has dogged Rudolph since and likely will be attached to his name for the rest of his NFL career. With teammate Cameron Heyward saying Rudolph was “distraught” by Garrett’s accusation, it’s reasonable to wonder whether the young quarterback can put aside the controversy Sunday when the Steelers play the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium.

“I believe so,” offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said Thursday. “I know he will. He’s competitive. He’s working, and he’s doing all of the right things.”

Aside from a short session Wednesday in which he read a statement from prepared notes and answered a few questions about the incident, Rudolph did not conduct interviews this past week. He was scheduled to speak Thursday, but it was canceled and the Steelers issued a statement when Garrett’s accusation of a racial slur surfaced.

That left others to speak about Rudolph and his resolve as he tries to shake off the worst week — and worst game — of his nascent NFL career.

“The only thing he was concerned with was not letting it be a distraction moving forward,” Heyward said Thursday when Garrett’s accusations surfaced. “I think we all have been trying to move forward … We are trying to focus on Cincinnati, and Mason is just trying to focus on that game.”

Fichtner agreed the adversity will be a test unlike any other Rudolph has faced.

“I don’t think there is any doubt,” Fichtner said. “It happened in San Francisco,” when Rudolph made his first NFL start, “and he got his first win against Cincinnati (a week later). He needs to bounce back, and he will. He’s attacked the day, and he’s attacked the week in a tough week.”

Befitting someone who won more games at Oklahoma State than any other quarterback, who set 54 school records and finished with the fourth-most passing yards in Big 12 history, Rudolph encountered few setbacks before the Steelers selected him in the third round of the 2018 draft.

In 42 career college games, Rudolph had just one three-interception game. That was as a sophomore in 2015 when he threw three picks at West Virginia. After an off week, Rudolph didn’t throw an interception in his next start, a win against Kansas.

Rudolph had seven college starts in which he threw two interceptions, and his record in the following starts was 7-0 with 16 touchdowns against three interceptions. Some will say his rebound start against the Bengals, who have the NFL’s worst defense, is akin to Rudolph facing Kansas or Iowa State after his multi-interception games in the Big 12. But without JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner and Maurkice Pouncey, the playing field will be leveled a bit for the 0-10 Bengals.

“We like Mason,” coach Mike Tomlin said in support of his quarterback this week. “We like what he does throughout the team development process. He has earned the position that he holds now, but it is also something he will continually earn through his play. He understands that, and we understand that. He didn’t do a good enough job of taking care of the football in the last game. And, so, he has to take responsibility for that and understands that, and that is something that can’t be a part of his play moving forward on a consistent basis.”

Perhaps Rudolph can learn from his predecessor how to respond after a poor start. From 2008-17, Roethlisberger was 7-0 in the game after one in which he threw three or more interceptions. (He lost both such starts last season.)

Roethlisberger also went through some growing pains early in his career. In 2006, his third NFL season, he was involved in an offseason motorcycle accident and had an emergency appendectomy in the days leading up to the season opener. Roethlisberger had four games that year in which he threw at least three interceptions, and he went 1-3 with seven total interceptions in the following week.

It’s too early in his career for Rudolph to endure such season-long difficulties, but he did recover from a jarring concussion in his third NFL start to win his next three games, the streak ending Nov. 14 at Cleveland.

The NFL in general and his offensive coordinator in particular will watch to see how Rudolph comports himself against the Bengals.

“I judge him in everything he does from huddle management to field control to decisions he has to make to checks and certain things he has to do for us to allow us to be successful,” Fichtner said. “Obviously, (there’s) ball placement, pocket movement. There’s a lot of things you’re coaching all the time.

“Gameday, it’s time to take the weekly test, and that’s where you want to see the results. There will be growing pains every week, and there have been. Maybe different defenses, different situations, different play calls. We just have to grow from them, and I believe he is.”

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