Five days after a handful of his shotgun snaps were noticeably off-target in a game against the Detroit Lions, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie center Kendrick Green took accountability for the bizarre spate of plays that had fill-in quarterback Mason Rudolph lunging and improvising.
“It’s all me,” Green said after Friday’s practice at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “Just needed to slow down and not realize I had to snap first. It has nothing to do with who’s back there.”
Kendrick Green on how he addressed his problems snapping last week pic.twitter.com/6aNP0TUmAl
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) November 19, 2021
Green has been relatively sure-handed in his snaps so far during his rookie season as a third-round pick. So that his first off game came during Rudolph’s first start was notable.
There were several snaps Rudolph had to lunge or leap for, and one during the first quarter he batted to himself before executing the play. The most costly bad snap was during overtime, when Rudolph had to run to recover the ball for a play that ended up a 19-yard loss and stalled a potential winning drive.
“Honestly, no excuse for it,” Green said. “Honestly, just can’t have it.”
Mason Rudolph on the spate of high snaps from Kendrick Green today pic.twitter.com/GbegrrXb5F
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) November 14, 2021
The play conjured up bad memories for Steelers fans of this past January’s playoff game when Maurkice Pouncey — a former All-Pro playing what would be his final NFL game — sailed the first snap of a playoff game over Ben Roethlisberger’s head, and the Cleveland Browns fell on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown that ignited a rout.
Green said he took some extra reps snapping this week at practice but noted that he always comes out to practice early to get in work.
“Watched the film (of last week) and try assess why it happened,” Green said. “But after that you’ve kind of got to press forward.”
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