Tim Benz: It's time for Steelers coach Mike Tomlin to support Devlin Hodges

This isn’t a change Mike Tomlin wants to make.

He has to make it.

On Tuesday, the Steelers head coach couldn’t have made that sentiment more clear if he tried.

Come to think of it, he basically did.

In describing why he made the decision to replace struggling quarterback Mason Rudolph with third stringer Devlin “Duck” Hodges, Tomlin bent over backward to soften the public perception of what this benching means for Rudolph.

“It means nothing about our intended plans for the foreseeable future or the trajectory of Mason’s career,” Tomlin said. “He’s been in and out of the lineup. Some running backs and offensive linemen have been in and out of the lineup. We miss some guys at receiver, specifically in the last game. Playing without [James] Conner and JuJu [Smith-Schuster], maybe some of those negative things have worn away at elements of Mason’s play.”

Meanwhile, trying to get an explanation about what Hodges has done well enough to earn the start was like pulling teeth. Sure, Tomlin credited Hodges for giving the team “a spark” with his touchdown throw to James Washington Sunday.

After he gave most of the credit to Washington in his postgame comments.

Beyond that, though, Tomlin hardly felt like emboldening the fans behind this decision by way of singing the virtues of the Duck.

“He didn’t kill us,” Tomlin said. “There’s going to be enough pressure on Devlin performing, so I’m not going to add to it by talking expectations.”

That’s the second time he’s dropped that “he didn’t kill us” quote on the Pittsburgh media regarding a performance by Hodges. He said the same thing after Hodges was at the helm when the Steelers beat the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 6.

So I went mining for more. C’mon, coach. There has to be something good about Duck. Otherwise why did you keep him on the roster in the first place?

“We didn’t keep him in the first place,” Tomlin said with a laugh.

That was an obvious reference to how the Steelers cut Hodges after the preseason, only to reacquire him after Josh Dobbs was traded to Jacksonville for a draft pick.

Like Tom Cruise in “A Few Good Men,” I walked right into that one!

There is truth in the joke, though. Tomlin still sees Hodges as the undrafted guy from Samford that they cut, not a player who should be called upon to quarterback his playoff-contending football team.

Tomlin has made it obvious that the last thing in the world he wants to do is bench Rudolph for Hodges. Unfortunately, Rudolph has been so bad the last six quarters, Tomlin is doing it anyway.

So Tomlin should stop acting like he doesn’t have an option besides Rudolph. He does have one. And he is utilizing it.

I appreciate where the coach is coming from in his reluctance. But he better warm up to the reality of why he is making the call.

And it’s beyond the fact that Hodges simply has thrown fewer interceptions (one in three appearances) than Rudolph has (five in the last six quarters).

Ball security, by the way, is the one compliment Tomlin seems willing to allow for Hodges thus far.

Well, that and this.

“He’s been really consistent in terms of his approach,” Tomlin said. “At every turn, he’s proven that those circumstances aren’t too big for him. That he doesn’t act funny in any way.”

Good. Duck doesn’t act weird when he gets on the field. There’s a start.

Let me help with a few more positive reviews.

• Hodges seems more willing to deliver the ball quickly to receivers who aren’t wide open but are “NFL open.”

• Neither QB has demonstrated a particularly strong arm, but Hodges has been more accurate to receivers in stride in the middle part of the field.

• Hodges moves better within the pocket to create throwing lanes and can escape it with more purpose than Rudolph can right now.

• And based on what some teammates are saying, Hodges brings a loose quality to the huddle.

“He’s a little more carefree about it. Most backups are,” guard Ramon Foster said Tuesday morning on 93.7 “The Fan.” “They don’t understand the ramifications of what they are doing. If anything, it might be their personalities that’s the difference of their play.”

Keep in mind, I’m someone who has been a Rudolph supporter all along. I also scoffed at the Duck phenomenon earlier this summer.

Unlike Tomlin, though, I’m at least ready to say Hodges is the better of two bad choices for this week, as opposed to saying that he is the only person on earth who can take a snap from center that can get to Pittsburgh by 1 p.m. Sunday.

I mean, start Paxton Lynch if you’re that scared of Duck. Would Tomlin be tamping down Dobbs’ qualities if he had stayed and been pressed into service?

I doubt it. And Hodges has already done more as a Steeler than Dobbs did.

None of this is to say Rudolph won’t be superior in all these areas someday. That’s where the Big 12 pedigree and his alleged first-round grade from the team on draft day comes into the equation.

But for now, he isn’t.

I sympathize with Tomlin’s circumstances. But he better warm up to the reality of why he is making the call in the first place.

Because you don’t want Hodges thinking that he’s only playing because he absolutely had to play.

If that happens, well, he may just end up playing that way.

Frankly, I think that was part of Rudolph’s issue in place of Ben Roethlisberger.

The looser the coaches were with Rudolph, the better he played. See the Rams game as evidence, where only wide receiver drops prevented him from having a really good afternoon. Or comeback efforts in the second half against the Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins.

No one is saying Tomlin has to like the situation he has. I’m just saying he better learn to live with it until Hodges proves to be every bit as incapable as Tomlin seems to think he is.

At that point, he can go back to Rudolph.

And see if he ends the game with the same opinion.