When Devlin Hodges addressed the media earlier this week as the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, it was one day after the three-month anniversary since he had been unemployed and back home in Alabama.
But as “Duck” prepares to make his fourth NFL start Sunday, Steelers coaches are increasingly giving the undrafted rookie latitude in calling plays at the line of scrimmage.
“We have had some gameplan checks and stuff and audibles that we have had in the gameplan, and I have executed those,” Hodges said.
But he added: “Most of the times, whatever the play is called is usually the play I am running.”
Veteran Ben Roethlisberger openly relished the opportunity to run a hurry-up offense in which he could call plays. Hodges said he has done that one or two times, but he has not changed a play offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner has called.
“We are trying to go as fast as we can,” Hodges said, “so we haven’t had to audible a whole lot.”
Would Hodges be comfortable doing so if the coaches let him? He did, after all, run a fast-paced spread offense at Samford.
“Yeah, I feel like I would be,” Hodges said. “The two-minute menu is so small, there’s only a limited amount of plays we have for two-minute that we go out there and execute. I would be comfortable just because of the small menu.”
Coach Mike Tomlin devotes plenty of training-camp practice time to “situational football,” and hurry-up/2-minute is perhaps the biggest priority for that. Tomlin gave then-No. 4 QB Hodges reps running it on Chuck Noll Field at Saint Vincent.
“We have always been prepared,” Hodges said, “and it is nice to go out there and execute it.”
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