A tumultuous week for Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Mason Rudolph hit its climax on Sunday as he was benched due to poor performance in their 16-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
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Rudolph completed just 8-16 passes for 85 yards and topped it off with an interception in the RedZone before being pulled for backup QB Devlin Hodges.
“Just felt like our offense needed a spark,” head coach Mike Tomlin said, explaining the decision to turn to backup Devlin “Duck” Hodges. “Mason wasn’t doing enough; Duck came in and provided us with a spark, made a couple plays. We’ll see what next week holds, next week. But I like the contributions of Duck; I like his readiness; I appreciate the efforts of Mason and also appreciate the support of Mason after we made the change.”
A chaotic week led up to this performance from Rudolph, though he claimed it had no influence over his performance. “I think I do a good job of shutting that stuff out,” he said. “And this was just purely — not moving the ball up and down the field.”
“That stuff” Rudolph is referring to is the publicity he has been getting all week over the accusation made by Browns’ Myles Garrett that the QB used a racial slur during their previous altercation which ended with Garrett slamming a helmet on Rudolph’s head.
“I think any human would be [distraught] in one day, when your integrity’s attacked and something’s said about you that’s totally untrue,” Rudolph said Sunday when asked about feeling “distraught” about the allegation. “And I couldn’t believe it, and I couldn’t believe that he would go that route after the fact. But it is what it is. I think I’ve moved on, and … one day it was tough.”
As of now, the NFL has stated that it has found “no evidence” of Garrett’s allegation.
Tomlin refused to disclose the depth chart of the quarterbacks moving forward and who would be starting next week as the Steelers face off against the Cleveland Browns again, this time on their home turf.
