Christian DiLauro can laugh about going from an anonymous offensive tackle on the Pittsburgh Steelers practice squad to being caught in the cross-hairs of a quarterback controversy.

DiLauro’s locker separates those of Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges in the locker room at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on the South Side, so he’s had a front-row seat to the media hordes that encircled the Steelers quarterbacks for interviews after Rudolph was replaced as the starter by Hodges.

“They haven’t changed. They’ve been the same, even when they’ve gone from starter to backup,” DiLauro said. “Duck being Duck, just because his title has been changed to Quarterback One or whatever, he’s not going to change his personality. He’s going to be who he is and play his game. Mason is the same way.”

DiLauro is making the most of being sandwiched between the quarterbacks, trying his best to have fun with what could be an awkward situation when the television cameras arrive.

“I’ve had jokes with my family about it,” DiLauro said. “I always say I’m going to try to pop in there since I’m right here, just stand in the background so they can see me.”

Instead, DiLauro often tries to find somewhere else to sit so he doesn’t interrupt talks between Hodges and Rudolph.

“I try to get out of it because they’re always talking, conversing about football so I let them do their thing,” DiLauro said. “They’re competitive on the field, but when they’re in the locker room, they’re best friends, working together, making each other better by pushing each other every day.”

DiLauro, who signed with the Steelers during the bye week after the Chargers game, also is in the middle of the renewed rivalry with the Cleveland Browns in the AFC North.

The 6-foot-6, 300-pounder signed with the Browns last year as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois and was on their practice squad for a week before being cut. He also has spent time on the practice squads of the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans.

An Akron native, DiLauro has many friends who are Browns fans and gave him grief about signing with the Steelers.

“I was back home for the offseason, when they had all the trades,” DiLauro said. “Most of my friends were pretty much Browns fans, so they were talking it up at the time. They don’t let it go. As soon as I found out I was coming here, they let me know. They let me know they were still Browns fans.”

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