Steelers’ Mason Rudolph Responds to Ben Roethlisberger’s Apparent Dig At Him

There is an interesting quarterback situation brewing in Pittsburgh, and the season still is months away.

The Steelers selected Oklahoma State signal-caller Mason Rudolph in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft despite starter Ben Roethlisberger committing to playing another three-to-five years, health permitting.

With Pittsburgh already having backups in veteran Landry Jones and soon-to-be second-year pro Josh Dobbs, the decision was somewhat questionable, and clearly did not please Roethlisberger.

Rudolph had said on draft day that it wasn’t up to Roethlisberger to teach him, and that it essentially was up to him to pave his own path through the NFL.

So, during a radio interview last week, Roethlisberger, among other things, had this little number to say when asked if he planned on serving as a mentor to Rudolph.

“I don’t think I’ll need to since he said he doesn’t need me,” Roethlisberger said. “If he asks me a question, I might just have to point to the playbook.”

Not exactly mincing words.

Over the weekend, Rudolph responded to the comment on NFL Network.

“If I was Ben, I’d probably say the same thing,” Rudolph said, via ESPN. “He’s a competitor. Obviously, he has a lot of confidence in himself, like I do. And, yeah, he’s going to be a future Hall of Famer, and I would expect him to say that. So I’m just looking forward to going in there and learning the system, competing, raising my level of play, preparing like I’m the starter even though obviously I won’t be the starter and just waiting and being prepared for whenever I get my time. Whenever my time comes, to be ready and take advantage of it.”

Well handled.

This season certainly will be an interesting one for the Steelers, and we’ll have to wait and see if any tension presents itself between the two QBs.