Ben Roethlisberger began taking COVID-19 tests Tuesday in an effort to be cleared in time to play in the Steelers' game Sunday night at Los Angeles against the Chargers.
Whether or not the Steelers' starting quarterback gets the two consecutive negative tests within a 24-hour period he needs to be removed from the NFL's Reserve/COVID-19 List remains to be seen.
If he does, the Steelers' plan is to start Roethlisberger, who tested positive for the virus last Saturday. If he doesn't pass his tests, then Mason Rudolph, who got a surprise start last week, would make it two in a row for the Steelers.
For Rudolph, it's both a blessing and a curse.
"It’s just the nature of being a backup quarterback. There’s ebb and flow," Rudolph said. "Coach (Quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan) calls it a midstream adjustment. We’ve got to adjust and always be ready. I think having that experience with Cincy last year and over my career has helped me be able to flip on a dime. You find out Saturday night, right before I went to the hotel. You kind of go through those storms and you’re hardened from it."
Rudolph received the first-team snaps Wednesday and Thursday as the Steelers (5-3-1) continued their prep to play the Chargers (5-4). Roethlisberger, meanwhile, is still at home, going over the game plan via Zoom calls with Sullivan.
Rudolph has to balance wanting to play with what's best for the team. In this case, I asked if he feels a little like Charlie Brown running up to the football, only to have Lucy Van Pelt -- in this case Roethlisberger -- pull it away.
"Yeah," he said to my analogy. "Any time you can’t play, every week I don’t play, you’re disappointed. Yes. That’s the battle between self and team. We’re all going to feel that way inside. But at the end of the freaking day, what matters is going out and winning the game. Regardless of who is playing the game, the Steelers, we want to win. We want to stack wins in our column and set ourselves up for the postseason."
The Steelers missed that opportunity last week. Rudolph was 30 of 50 for 240 yards and one touchdown with one interception in a 16-16 tie against the Lions after finding out less than 12 hours before the game that he would get the spot start. He also rushed for 36 yards, though that's not necessarily his strongest asset.
After leading the Steelers on a touchdown drive on their opening possession, however, the Steelers scored just nine points the rest of the way in regulation. Rudolph twice had the Steelers in position to win the game in overtime, but Diontae Johnson and Pat Freiermuth fumbled at the end of receptions to turn the ball over.
It was certainly a mixed bag of results for Rudolph.
"It was not good enough to win, especially in regulation," Rudolph said. "There were some throws I missed. But I was the proud of the way we battled back and put ourselves in position to win the game a couple of times in their territory and had the ball roll not our way. We had some costly turnovers. I’m just happy to have the opportunity to get out there and play and make some mistakes and improve. That’s all I can do is hope to improve myself again this week. Hopefully I get the chance. If not, I’ll support the crap out of Ben and our team."
Situations such as this also serve as auditions for the future. With Roethlisberger now 39 and likely to be playing his final season with the Steelers, Rudolph knows that four years into his career, the time could be coming soon where the Steelers have to decide if he's their quarterback of the future or if the organization wants to look elsewhere.
Practices are still a big part of that, but opportunities to start have been rare the past two seasons after he made 8 starts in place of an injured Roethlisberger in 2019. The Steelers are now 5-4-1 when Rudolph starts for them after Sunday's game.
"Every opportunity is an opportunity to show and prove myself to my team and teammates that I want to be the starter, can be the starter," Rudolph said. "I’m not going to put any more pressure on it, any more than I did Sunday or at practice today. I’m my own hardest critic at times. I’m excited about it. If that happens, if I’m the guy, we’re going to go."
And if he's not, it won't be any different than a year ago when Roethlisberger was on the COVID List because of a close contact, allowing Rudolph to take all the snaps prior to a game against the Bengals. Roethlisberger was cleared on Saturday and started against the Bengals in a 36-10 win in which he threw for 333 yards and four touchdowns.
"It’s good experience to have," he said. "This experience will help me when I’m 60 when I’m a grandfather. These are valuable life experiences when you get called on in the heat of the moment, you’ve got to adjust."
