Ben Roethlisberger won’t be in the huddle Sunday in Cleveland. Where he will be is on the practice field this week, on the sideline against the Cleveland Browns and in the ear of Mason Rudolph as the Pittsburgh Steelers backup quarterback makes his first start of the season.
With the decision to rest Roethlisberger for the season finale at FirstEnergy Stadium, the team’s franchise quarterback will be a spectator while the spotlight shines on Rudolph, whose start coincides with the Steelers’ first trip to Cleveland since the Myles Garrett helmet-swinging incident in November 2019.
Roethlisberger plans to do everything possible to make Rudolph’s return to Cleveland a successful one for the third-year quarterback — and for the Steelers, who still could earn the No. 2 playoff seed under the right circumstances.
“I’ll be here for Mason, for Josh (Dobbs), for whoever it may be,” Roethlisberger said. “Kind of like last year, that’s the approach I’ll take. I never want to step on toes, but I want to be available to questions, to help, to give my input. … I talked to Mason about that. That is going to be my role this week, and I’ll do everything I can to answer questions and be whatever help I can be for this game.”
Roethlisberger was a spectator last year when the Garrett-Rudolph incident happened late in the Browns’ 21-7 victory on Nov. 14. Roethlisberger was only about six weeks removed from right elbow surgery that ended his season after six quarters.
Roethlisberger could merely watch from afar as Garrett conked Rudolph on the head with the quarterback’s helmet, inciting a skirmish that led to the Browns star defensive end being suspended for the remainder of the season.
Asked what advice he would give Rudolph on how to handle the rematch, Roethlisberger offered two points of view.
“You can put it behind you and treat it like a typical quarterback that has to have a short-term memory and go out and be like whatever happened last year — there is going to be a lot of hoopla made about it — put it out of your mind and focus on this year, this game, this team,” he said.
“Or, you could take it as motivation that you want to go out and put it on them and help them win the football game. It’s really how each man individually wants to approach it. I know from talking to Mason and knowing Mason that he wants to go out and win this football game, and he is going to do everything he can to do that for this team. It’s an awesome opportunity for him to go out and show what he can do.”
Rudolph isn’t scheduled to meet with the media until later this week, but coach Mike Tomlin and defensive captain Cameron Heyward said Wednesday the Steelers are focused on beating the Browns and preparing for the postseason rather than rehash the incident from 13 months ago.
“We’re not going to keep harping on a situation that has been (in the) past,” Heyward said. “We’ve played games after that. Going forward, if Mason wants to make a name for himself, let’s do it the right way.”
Added Tomlin in a conference call with Cleveland reporters: “That is so far in our rear-view mirror, we can’t see it.”
While Rudolph prepares for the start, Roethlisberger will do minimal on-field work this week as he rests for the postseason, although he is mindful the Steelers could face the Browns again when the postseason opens on the weekend of Jan. 9-10.
“That is the unique thing about this week,” Roethlisberger said. “We don’t know who we could play. Do you go watch film of every single team or wait until the weekend? That’s the million-dollar question. A couple of the options we know well, Cleveland and Baltimore.”
Roethlisberger plans to throw passes Friday and might do individual work with receivers on a side field while special-teams drills are taking place.
“What I don’t want to have happen is say, ‘Guys, let’s go over here and work on stuff for the playoffs,’ ” Roethlisberger said. “We have a game. Guys have to focus. That would be unfair to Mason and to guys that are playing this week. It’s a fine line to walk on doing that, but you still have to try and stay sharp. I’ll do my best to try to stay sharp mentally by watching some film, watching previous games of ours and things like that.”
And, of course, he’ll be focused on Rudolph, too.
“I’ll watch with a critical eye,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s one of those things where you want to help Mason and help our offense as much as you can, but you’re also watching their defense. If I can pick up on something or hear something, I’ll do everything I can to help win this game.”
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at jrutter@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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