Steelers place Mason Rudolph on IR, sign ex-Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett to practice squad

When the Pittsburgh Steelers make a final push for the playoffs on Sunday at Baltimore, they won’t have second-year quarterback Mason Rudolph around to rescue them.

Rudolph’s season officially came to an end when the Steelers placed him on the injured reserve list Tuesday with a left shoulder injury he suffered in the fourth quarter of the 16-10 loss at the New York Jets this past Sunday.

Devlin Hodges is expected to start, with Paxton Lynch as the backup, when the Steelers (8-7) play at the AFC North champion and conference top-seeded Ravens (13-2) at 4:25 p.m. Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.

Rudolph replaced Ben Roethlisberger, who suffered a season-ending elbow injury, in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks. Rudolph led the Steelers to a 5-3 record in eight starts and completed 62.2% of his passes for 1,765 yards and 13 touchdowns with nine interceptions.

Rudolph replaced Hodges in the second quarter against the Jets and completed 14 of 20 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown in rallying the Steelers from a 10-point deficit. Rudolph was injured when backup center B.J. Finney stepped on his foot and Rudolph fell awkwardly on his left (non-throwing) shoulder.

The Steelers announced they signed former Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett to the practice squad Tuesday morning. He previously had been with the New Orleans Saints’ practice squad.

The team also signed safety Tray Matthews (Auburn) to the practice squad.

We have signed QB J.T. Barrett and S Tray Matthews to our practice squad.

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 24, 2019

The Steelers promoted center J.C. Hassenauer from the practice squad to replace Rudolph on the 53-man roster. That could be a sign that Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey won’t be available for the Ravens game. Pouncey left the Jets game in the third quarter with a knee injury.

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