The Athletic has live coverage of Patriots vs Steelers on Thursday Night Football.

PITTSBURGH — There is no guarantee that Mason Rudolph will take a snap on Thursday against the New England Patriots. He might never take a snap with the Pittsburgh Steelers — or, realistically, in a regular-season football game — ever again.

Advertisement

Rudolph’s window was opened and then slammed shut after 10 starts and a long list of events that no quarterback would want their name associated with. Through it all, here he is — looking football justice right in the face after two long years.

“I don’t even know what that means,” Rudolph said. “All I want to do is do the best I can if I get a chance.”

Five years ago, the Steelers put a first-round grade on the highly regarded quarterback out of Oklahoma State and were thrilled to snag him in the third round of the 2018 draft. Since then, Rudolph’s career hasn’t quite gone as he expected it. Some might say it has been an unmitigated disaster, and they wouldn’t be far off

He was tabbed as Ben Roethlisberger’s eventual replacement, to the chagrin of the aging veteran; suffered a concussion on a helmet-to-helmet hit by Earl Thomas; and got slammed upside his bare head with his own helmet by Myles Garrett, the flash point of a controversy that reverberated for months. If all that wasn’t enough, Rudolph was also the quarterback who tied the winless Lions at home two years ago, leaving him as the butt of jokes to this day.

Oh yeah, who could forget last year when a “clerical error” led to Rudolph being listed as the backup quarterback before the opener against the Bengals? The error was corrected 18 hours later, making Rudolph the No. 3, better known as the guy who wouldn’t dress for games.

And those are just the highlights.

If anybody deserves some of that “football justice” that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin often references when talking about Kenny Pickett — the current starter who is out with an ankle injury — it would be hard to argue against Rudolph.

“I don’t think I deserve anything,” Rudolph said. “You work for what you get, and when you get an opportunity, that’s what you get — an opportunity to show what you can do. I am not going to speculate on crystal balls and football justice and stuff like that.”

Advertisement

But that football justice might just find him. It is a lot closer than it was a week ago.

Steelers OC Eddie Faulkner on Mason Rudolph, who is now a snap away.

— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) December 5, 2023

With Pickett likely out a few weeks following Monday’s surgery to address a high-ankle sprain, Rudolph has moved up the depth chart to No. 2 behind Thursday’s starter, Mitch Trubisky.

GO DEEPER

For Steelers and Kenny Pickett, 2023 is already a failure: DeFabo

What that means is simple — Mason Rudolph is now a snap away from getting that two-years-in-waiting opportunity to play football. He has dressed for each of the Steelers’ first 12 games but was listed as inactive, via the newly implemented emergency quarterback role. The only way for the No. 3 quarterback to get on the field would be for both guys in front of him to be injured, and the odds of that are quite minimal.

“The hardest part of being the three is even though there is almost a 0 percent statistical chance of you playing, you still have to prepare,” Rudolph said. “I try to push myself each week that when this happens, you are ready and don’t miss a beat.”

Given all of the quarterback injuries over the past two years, Rudolph had better shake the rust off his 28-year-old arm in a hurry. Even though the Steelers are fully committed to Trubisky while Pickett is out, there is not much room for a slow start.

The Steelers are 7-5 and have borderline must-win games against the Patriots, Colts and Bengals over the next three weeks. They can’t afford to let Trubisky work his way to form.

If the version of Trubisky who beat the Panthers last year shows up, Rudolph’s stint on the bench will be long. But if the version who threw three picks against the Ravens rears his head, you would have to believe his leash would be short, based on two solid preseasons by Rudolph and the fact that he has the most experience with the team and the system.

Advertisement

“We’ve got experience with him,” Tomlin said. “He’s got experience with us within our program. He’s a good idea guy. He’s a good sounding board for the guys that are in. And so, it’s a real comfortable thing for us with his presence and him being elevated, no doubt.”

Then there is the quarterback injury bug that might give Rudolph a chance.

An NFL-record 66 quarterbacks started a game last season. By this weekend, there will be at least 54 quarterbacks who have started a game this season.

“Mason, as the three, he’s been preparing as if he’s the starter,” interim offensive coordinator Eddie Faulkner said. “You feel fine about that. I’ve been here with Mason. … He’s got a lot of starts under his belt. Hopefully, we don’t get into a situation where he has to do that. But if he had to go in and play, you feel really good about a guy who’s got experience under center in NFL games in the regular season playing for you.”

In his time with the Steelers, Rudolph has had three different offensive coordinators and two quarterbacks coaches.

• HelmetGate
• Dealt with accusations
• Pulled next week
• Put in against Jets and played OK before shoulder injury
• Finally got a QB coach
• Got another QB coach but had to learn new offense
• Was last-second starter against Lions

Rudolph never really set up to succeed

— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) February 22, 2022

Rudolph has a 5-4-1 record as a starter, including 5-3 in 2019 when Roethlisberger was lost for the season with an elbow injury after a game and a half. Rudolph’s stats were so-so, but he had some good excuses. He had no quarterbacks coach as a rookie in 2018, after the Steelers didn’t replace Randy Fichtner (who was promoted to OC). As the No. 3 QB on the depth chart, he rarely got in-season reps in practice, with most of his reps coming via virtual reality.

In 2020, Rudolph had some mop-up time before throwing for 315 yards, two touchdowns and an interception in a Week 17 loss to the Browns. His next opportunity came on Nov. 14, 2021, when he found out 12 hours before the game that he was starting for Roethlisberger against the Lions. He was asked to throw 50 times in poor weather conditions.

Advertisement

Many remember Rudolph bouncing a throw to Ray-Ray McCloud in the end zone in the third quarter, missing a touchdown that would have given the Steelers the lead. Many don’t remember the two fumbles by teammates after Rudolph helped the Steelers move into Lions territory in overtime.

“He shows up every single day, he works hard, he’s consistent,” Freiermuth said of Rudolph. “He knows the offense. Everybody has full faith in him. If anything would happen, we would expect him to step up and execute.”

Despite his reputation, Rudolph’s numbers aren’t bad. He has 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions compared to Pickett’s 13 and 13, despite starting 14 fewer games. On about twice as many dropbacks, Pickett has been sacked 50 times to Rudolph’s 16.

Rudolph’s worst attribute is his lack of recent reps. Other than some bye-week work with the first team, he’s been relegated to running the scout team. He did have two solid preseasons, but as we’ve learned this year, only so much can be gleaned from the preseason when it comes to quarterbacks.

“I stay sharp with the game plan each week so I am up to speed,” said Rudolph, who re-signed with the Steelers in the offseason because they guaranteed his 2023 salary of $1.08 million. “We are all competitors and everybody wants to play, but I am still very blessed to be part of this football team. I still have a pretty good gig. You just keep plugging away waiting to possibly get that chance.”

That chance is now closer than ever, and if he does get an opportunity and succeeds, now that would be football justice.

(Photo: Charles LeClaire / USA Today)

“The Football 100,” the definitive ranking of the NFL’s best 100 players of all time, is on sale now. Order it here.