Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington played with quarterback Mason Rudolph for one year in 2023. Then Rudolph went to Tennessee for a season.

Now he’s back.

And apparently better than he was before.

“He’s just improved in the details from play-to-play. His steps. His drops. Whatever his coaching points are, I feel like he cleaned up some of that stuff from when he was previously here,” Washington said Monday morning of Rudolph. “He for sure puts a little more zip on that ball. And the ball placement, I feel like he is improving in that aspect.”

If anyone is looking for evidence, it can be found in Rudolph’s touchdown pass to Washington during Friday night’s 31-25 win in Jacksonville during the club’s preseason opener.

Darnell Washington scores the @Steelers' first TD of the preseason ????

Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/RkRDyRnC3Z

— NFL (@NFL) August 9, 2025

An appreciative Rudolph thanked Washington for the praise, but may have been a bit dubious of the sourcing.

“He doesn’t know anything about drops, for one,” Rudolph laughed. “But I’ll take the zip on the ball. And I’ll take (the ball placement). Thank you, Darnell.”

The thing is, Washington wasn’t alone in that assessment. Fellow tight end Pat Freiermuth cosigned on every one of those observations. Meanwhile, head coach Mike Tomlin was at least partially on board.

“I’ve noticed the ball placement. He’s always had zip on the ball. (He’s) doing a nice job in terms of the ball location, for sure,” Tomlin said Monday.

For his part, Rudolph credits the extensive goal-line drills Mike Tomlin does in training camp for his improved ball placement.

“Ball placement, every year, you hope it gets better — especially in the red zone,” Rudolph said. “We get so much red zone work here, you’ve got to have good placement against our defense. Otherwise, you aren’t going to score, and balls are going to get broken up. I think I credit that to Mike Tomlin’s approach with getting so many reps situationally in the low red zone.”

Another thing that Freiermuth added is that he thinks Rudolph has adjusted nicely to fit in Arthur Smith’s offensive scheme.

“He played well,” Smith said of Rudolph’s performance Saturday. “Some guys, you can drown them with too much information. You’ve just got a feel for him. I think that’s what’s important in the preseason. Those guys have to play how you want to call a game. What they need from the sideline. The rhythm of things, the operation.”

That all sounds good for games in August. If Rudolph has a chance to exhibit these improvements during the regular season, that means something has gone wrong for Aaron Rodgers in terms of either health or performance.

Should that happen, though, the Mason Rudolph of 2025 may be even better equipped to handle that situation than the one who saved the Steelers from a spiraling season just two years ago.

Listen: Tim Benz interviews Mason Rudolph, discusses Cam Heyward’s contract and recaps Monday’s practice in his most recent “Letters from Camp” podcast  

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