Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin recently announced that Devlin Hodges would be the starting quarterback going forward. However, Tomlin also said that the issues with their offense go far beyond just the quarterback position.
There is no doubting that Mason Rudolph has struggled, but Tomlin thinks injuries also played a significant role in the offensive struggling to move the ball.
“In recent quarters of action, we’ve really been bogged down, and that has been due to a lot of things,” said Tomlin via the Steelers team website. “It really goes beyond just Mason and his performance. He has been in and out of the lineup, some running backs and offensive linemen have been in and out of the lineup, we missed some guys at receiver specifically in the last game, (there was) the combination of playing without Conner and JuJu (in Cincinnati), and so maybe some of those negative things have worn away at elements of Mason’s play. He hadn’t protected the ball very well recently like he did at the early portions of his participation.
Tomlin said he has a lot of patience trying to get young players up to speed but within reason. He needs his players to take care of the ball, and that's something that Rudolph wasn't doing.
“I have a lot of patience for young guys, but one thing we need to do is take care of the ball. That was one of the reasons why we gave Devlin an opportunity in Cincinnati,” added Tomlin. “Once given the opportunity, he took care of the ball and provided a spark, so we just thought it was reasonable as we prepare this week to allow him to continue to do that.”
It was made clear by Tomlin that this move doesn't mean anything long-term for Rudolph. For right now, the team thinks it's important to give Hodges a chance.
The Steelers play the Cleveland Browns Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field.
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