Mason Rudolph will take the most first-team practice reps for the Pittsburgh Steelers this week in Ben Roethlisberger’s stead.
But should the worst-case scenario play out and Roethlisberger cannot play Sunday, coach Mike Tomlin left himself some wiggle room that Josh Dobbs could see some action against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“We are going to work both young quarterbacks this week,” Tomlin said Tuesday, not long after Roethlisberger was placed on the reserve/covid-19 list after being deemed a high-risk contact of teammate Vance McDonald, who has tested positive for coronavirus.
“Mason is going to get the bulk of the work. That is the position that he is in, but we will play it by ear as we proceed through the week. I’m not opposed to playing anybody that increases our chances of winning based on what we are looking at.”
Roethlisberger is eligible to come off the covid-19 list Saturday if his daily tests come back negative. He will start Sunday if that is the case.
After spending his rookie 2018 season as the No. 3 quarterback behind Roethlisberger and Dobbs, Rudolph beat out Dobbs for the top backup spot during training camp last year. A week into the season, the Steelers traded Dobbs to the Jacksonville Jaguars. During a Week 2 loss, Roethlisberger suffered an elbow injury that required surgery.
Rudolph started eight of the remaining 14 games, at one point losing his job to undrafted rookie Devlin Hodges. The Steelers re-signed Dobbs in September after his release by Jacksonville.
Rudolph has served as Roethlisberger’s backup for all eight games this season, including subbing in a series late in the first half of last week’s win at Dallas. Dobbs has been inactive for every game so far.
Hodges is on the practice squad.
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