{"id":656043,"date":"2026-05-21T07:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T07:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/656043\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T07:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T07:52:10","slug":"thats-kind-of-been-communicated-mason-rudolph-admits-steelers-are-limiting-his-reps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/656043\/","title":{"rendered":"‘That’s Kind Of Been Communicated’: Mason Rudolph Admits Steelers Are Limiting His Reps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mason Rudolph doesn\u2019t consider himself the odd man out. When it comes to spring reps, however, he\u2019s drawn the short straw. With four quarterbacks vying for snaps during OTAs, Rudolph is taking a backseat to veteran starter Aaron Rodgers and the two youngsters, second-year Will Howard and rookie Drew Allar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s kind of been communicated,\u201d Rudolph told reporters Wednesday via the team website<\/a> when asked if his reps were curtailed. \u201cTwo young quarterbacks. That was the case when I got in. That\u2019s a normal mode of operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a practice setting, it can be difficult to give all four quarterbacks an even amount of snaps. Someone will receive a lesser amount. That appears to be Rudolph, who opened OTAs as the third-string quarterback behind Rodgers and Howard. From a snap perspective, it sounds like even Allar is earning more snaps as the team evaluates its newest passer.<\/p>\n

\u201cMason has a lot of experience,\u201d head coach Mike McCarthy said<\/a> when asked about Rudolph\u2019s spring role. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to accomplish a threshold with Aaron, and I\u2019m trying to develop Will and Drew the best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a logic behind it. Howard and Allar have limited bodies of work. Neither has even played a preseason game. Over the next four months, Pittsburgh needs to learn a lot about both because they\u2019ll be backups once the regular season begins. By comparison, Rudolph has been in the NFL since 2018 with over 700 attempts and nearly 20 starts.<\/p>\n

Still, Rudolph is learning McCarthy\u2019s new offense himself. That\u2019s no small adjustment. He, like anyone else, needs reps in the system to progress. Rudolph is also battling for a roster spot. If the team keeps only three quarterbacks, Rudolph and Howard will fight for the last spot.<\/p>\n

McCarthy praised his arm strength,<\/a> always a strength of Rudolph\u2019s game, but he\u2019ll need to be given the chance to show that throughout the rest of the offseason to show he can run the new offense.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tricky line for Pittsburgh to walk. Being fair in reps and chances while focusing on the franchise\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, what may keep Rudolph around has little to do with his own play this year. If Howard impresses throughout the spring and summer, the team will likely feel confident keeping him as the No. 2 and push Rudolph off the roster. If Howard falters, the team may feel compelled to keep Rudolph as a veteran backup.<\/p>\n

A situation out of Rudolph\u2019s control. All he can focus on is maximizing the opportunities he receives and letting the process play out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mason Rudolph doesn\u2019t consider himself the odd man out. When it comes to spring reps, however, he\u2019s drawn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":656044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[40548,41970,349,1321,99,31714],"class_list":["post-656043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-drew-allar","tag-mason-rudolph","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-sports","tag-will-howard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/656044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}