Mike Tomlin brushes aside calls to bench Mason Rudolph

There is a growing question whether the Pittsburgh Steelers are truly starting their best quarterback in Mason Rudolph. There have been some growing calls for the Steelers to replace Rudolph with rookie Devlin Hodges, who won his lone start of the season away against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Coach Mike Tomlin, however, has no plans to bench Rudolph as long as he takes care of the football.

“We like Mason. We like what he’s done throughout this team development process,” Tomlin said, via Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports. “He’s earned the position that he holds now, but it’s also something that he will continually earn through play. He understands that and we understand that. He didn’t do a good enough job taking care of the football in the last game, and he’s gotta take responsibility for that, and he understands that. That’s something that can’t be a part of his play moving forward on a consistent basis, but that’s anybody that occupies that role for us … job one is preservation of the football.”

Preservation of the football is actually a reason why some fans are losing patience. Rudolph was intercepted four times in a 21-7 loss to Cleveland last Thursday, and it was a major factor in the team’s defeat, even if it was overshadowed by what happened at the end of the game. Rudolph had four interceptions in his previous seven appearances, and the Steelers will probably be content if that’s the norm for him as opposed to the Cleveland performance.