GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Mason Rudolph now has his first training camp at Saint Vincent College under his belt.
Thursday night, he could make his first career start -- albeit in the preseason.
Though Mike Tomlin wouldn't say what the pecking order would be with his quarterback rotation in Thursday night's preseason game against the Packers at Lambeau Field, it is expected to be the rookie Rudolph who gets the start and Josh Dobbs who plays the second half. Ben Roethlisberger and Landry Jones were not scheduled to play, even before Roethlisberger suffered a concussion Tuesday in the team's final practice of training camp.
Much as he did at mini-camp, Rudolph closed out training camp with a sharp two-minute drill Tuesday at Latrobe Memorial Stadium, finishing it off with a TD pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster. Dobbs then followed by leading a touchdown drive of his own.
But it was Rudolph who was working with the first unit.
"It feels great," said Rudolph, a third-round draft pick. "To finish things off like that, it's been really fun. It's been a learning experience. I started to understand how everything works, the flow of camp, what the coaches want. It's been fun and I'm looking forward to heading to Green Bay."
Rudolph played the entire second half in last week's 31-14 win at Philadelphia to open the preseason. He completed seven of 12 passes for 101 yards but did fumble twice, once on a center exchange.
He also failed to get the team into the end zone, leading the Steelers to nine second-half points on three Chris Boswell field goals.
"We got a lot of firsts out of the way, but not that first touchdown pass," he said. "I guess we'll have to do that."
Targeting a familiar face could help with that. While Antonio Brown also won't play in this game for the Steelers, Rudolph will still have Smith-Schuster and rookie James Washington as targets.
Washington has been pressing hard for more playing time of late and in the penultimate practice of training camp Monday, outjumped 6-foot-3 cornerback Brian Allen for one touchdown and then beat starting corner Joe Haden in the corner of the end zone for another during red zone drills.
The two hooked up for 40 touchdown passes and nearly 4,000 yards as teammates at Oklahoma State.
"I think throwing it to 13 (Washington) a little bit more could help," Rudolph admitted.
THE ESSENTIALS
• When: 8:02 p.m.
• Where: Lambeau Field
• TV: KDKA
• Radio: 102.5 WDVE, ESPN Pittsburgh, Steelers Nation Radio
• Satellite: SiriusXM 227, 826 (Internet)
• Forecast: 74, mostly cloudy
• Will call open: 6 p.m.
• Gates open: 6 p.m.
• Boxscore: NFL Game Center
THE INJURY REPORT
Steelers: Will not play: WR Antonio Brown, TE Vance McDonald (foot), OLB T.J. Watt (hamstring), QB Ben Roethlisberger (concussion), QB Landry Jones (coach's decision), S Sean Davis (groin)
Packers: DE Mike Daniels (quad), DB Jermaine Whitehead (back), RB Joe Kerridge (shoulder), RB Aaron Jones (hamstring)
BURNETT RETURNS
A third-round draft pick of Green Bay in 2010, Morgan Burnett spent eight seasons roaming the Packers' secondary as a key member of the team's defense.
But the Packers decided to move on from the 29-year-old in the offseason, allowing him to become a free agent. He was scooped up by the Steelers, who signed him to a three-year, $14.35 million contract to replace Mike Mitchell.
Burnett said it will be different visiting Lambeau Field as a visitor after appearing in 113 games -- including the postseason -- for the Packers.
"It's going to be a little different but it's going to be a lot of fun," said Burnett. "I'll get to see some of my old teammates and some of the guys at the facility. It should be a lot of fun. Their crowd normally shows up, preseason or regular season. It should be a packed house."
WHAT TO WATCH
Receivers, receivers: Can Damoun Patterson and Marcus Tucker continue to make a push for roster spots at the receiver position?
Patterson led the Steelers with six catches for 77 yards, including a 29-yard highlight-reel touchdown at the end of the first half against the Eagles last week. He has followed that up with a strong week of practice, but needs to continue to make plays.
Tucker, meanwhile, had just two catches for 14 yards against Philadelphia but made the team's first special teams tackle and was the first guy down the field on the next opportunity.
Brown, Smith-Schuster and Washington have secure roster spots. Veteran Darrius Heyward-Bey might, as well. But the Steelers typically keep five or six receivers, so there is at least one spot open and a possibility of two if those two can beat out veteran Justin Hunter.
Big Dan watch: The Steelers have been pleasantly surprised by the play of fifth-year nose tackle Daniel McCullers and even got him some playing time with the first unit during practice last week at the expense of Javon Hargrave.
Can the massive McCullers (6-7, 352 pounds) reach his potential this season under new defensive line coach Karl Dunbar?
Bostic's move up the depth chart: Though the Steelers' depth chart still lists Tyler Matakevich as the starter next to Vince Williams, it was Jon Bostic who started against the Eagles. Bostic then stayed in the game after Williams was pulled after two series and played with Matakevich.
The team's other big free agent signing, along with Burnett, Bostic recorded four tackles and looked at ease making the defensive calls. Bostic could also replace Williams as the dime linebacker.
The young outside linebackers: Keion Adams, rookie Ola Adeniyi and Farrington Huguenin all had their moments against the Eagles. And with Watt out, all will get plenty of playing time.
The Steelers only have six outside linebackers in camp and it's looking like all six will have some kind of role. After all, the Steelers kept five on the 53-man roster and one on the practice squad last season.
What will that pecking order be behind Watt, Bud Dupree and Anthony Chickillo? The preseason games will go a long way toward determining that.
Return game: The Steelers used Quadree Henderson in the first half and Jordan Thomas in the second half last week, though Henderson, a Pitt product, didn't get an opportunity to return a punt.
Thomas, a former Georgia Tech quarterback, was hardly impressive, averaging just 4.0 yards on three returns.
Will Henderson get more of a chance this week, or will Tomlin finally give cornerback Cameron Sutton a chance, as well? All three have fielded punts throughout training camp.