The Pittsburgh Steelers have chosen to rest Ben Roethlisberger on Sunday with very little at stake for them, leaving Mason Rudolph to start against a Cleveland Browns team looking to clinch a playoff berth. That will be a tough spot for a player with minimal experience, but apparently Rudolph shouldn’t count on Roethlisberger being of much assistance.
Michael Silver of NFL Media was discussing the highly-anticipated rematch between Rudolph and Myles Garrett when he dropped an interesting tidbit about Roethlisberger’s relationship with Rudolph. Or, should we say, lack of relationship.
“I don’t think Mason Rudolph’s gonna get a lot of help from Ben Roethlisberger in this prep,” Silver said. “I’m told they really don’t have much of a relationship, so the young player is going to have to sink or swim on his own here.”
The comment was made in passing, but it was certainly noteworthy. You can hear it near the end of the clip below:
If I'm Mason Rudolph, there's one @steelers starter I'm begging Mike Tomlin not to rest against the @Browns … From NFL Now with @AndrewSiciliano @MarcRoss @AKinkhabwala @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/r7taLHw11D
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) December 29, 2020
Roethlisberger would not be the first older quarterback to have an icy relationship with his backup, assuming that is even the case. We all remember what happened with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, and there were similar rumblings when Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo played together. A lot of times the tension stems from an older player not wanting a younger player to take his job, though there’s little chance of that happening in Pittsburgh.
Rudolph will probably have a lot on his mind heading into Sunday’s game. While the game will only have a minimal impact on playoff seeding for the Steelers, Rudolph got bashed over the head with a helmet the last time he faced the Browns. We tend to doubt Roethlisberger will completely freeze him out, but you never know.
