Rudolph ready for bedlam of Turnpike Rivalry
PITTSBURGH — On draft day a couple of Aprils back, Mason Rudolph thought about Baker Mayfield.
“As soon as I got selected,” Rudolph said of the realization that THE rivalry — at least to the two quarterbacks from different Oklahoma schools — would continue in a different part of the country.
“I can’t wait,” Rudolph said in 2018. “It’ll be fun. Whenever my times comes to play those guys twice a year, it’ll be a joy.”
That day has come.
The principals of Bedlam, the rivalry between Mayfield’s Oklahoma and Rudolph’s Oklahoma State, are facing each other, but only at another level of bedlam, the famed Turnpike Rivalry between Mayfield’s Cleveland Browns and Rudolph’s Steelers.
“Great player, competitor,” Rudolph said Tuesday of Mayfield. “Fierce competitor, and, yeah, a friend.”
That may be so. But there’s no doubt that Rudolph has a flame burning for his, um, friend — or more precisely his status as a first-rounder.
Rudolph wanted that status for himself in the worst way. That he not only fell out of the first round, but into the third, had him seething deep down inside on the second day of the draft.
“It’ll stick with me every minute of every hour from here going forward until the day I die,” Rudolph said back then. “It’s definitely like a burning fire. It began Thursday night and it will keep going, like I said, for a long time.”
Rudolph told himself that he’s in a better situation, and perhaps he is. He stepped in for the injured Roethlisberger at halftime of Game 2. Except a blast from Earl Thomas that kept Rudolph out of a game and a half, Rudolph has been the man in Pittsburgh.
He believes he’s improved every week, and so does his coordinator. Randy Fichtner on Tuesday said Rudolph’s game two days prior was the best of his six starts.
“I think it was his best game of consistently making decisions and putting the ball in proper spots,” said Fichtner. “That led to opportunities down the field. And he did a nice job with it, put balls in places we could catch them.”
They didn’t catch all of them. Hardly. The drop count varies between six and seven, depending on the source. All of the targeted receivers except Trey Edmunds were a part of the mess. Three of the catches were fumbled.
It was sloppy, but Rudolph and the Steelers came out of it with a win.
“Sometimes we just get a little lazy with our hands and our eyes and our hand-eye coordination,” said receiver James Washington. “But, we’re picking up on it. We’re working on it.”
Washington led the Steelers with career-highs of six catches for 90 yards. But he had a huge fumble that occurred while using the hand with the ball to direct downfield blocking traffic during a 34-yard gain. Losing the ball devastated Washington, but he picked himself up and finished strong.
Of course, Washington was at Oklahoma State with Rudolph.
“This kind of rings that rivalry,” Washington said. “They beat us pretty bad while we were there, but it’s another level now. I think it means a lot (to Rudolph), and not just because of personal feelings, but just the fact that we need this win for the AFC North.”
The Steelers are riding a four-game win streak, but at 5-4 are still two games behind the Baltimore Ravens.
The Browns, on the other hand, are coming off a win and at 3-6 are hoping to turn around their ballyhooed — and thus far disappointing — season.
The Browns are favored, thanks to a talented defense fortified by a decade of high draft picks. The offense has been fortified by expensive veteran acquisitions. But as with the Steelers, the Browns need more out of their quarterback.
Mayfield is coming off his highest-rated game (102.7), but has a 2019 passer rating of only 75.2. Rudolph’s passer rating this season is 93.
Of course, their respective passer ratings on Friday morning will matter more to both.
“I feel he would want to beat him,” Washington said of Rudolph’s inner fire. “It’s there, for sure. But the bigger point is winning this game, period. I mean, who doesn’t want to beat those guys?”
NOTES — Matt Feiler confirmed he moved back to right tackle upon the return to practice of left guard Ramon Foster. … Foster must be cleared by an independent neurologist before he’s officially out of the concussion protocol. … RB James Conner also returned to practice, but denied he’s using larger shoulder pads to protect his injured shoulder. Conner has missed the last two games. … Ryan Switzer (back), Benny Snell (knee) and Rosie Nix (knee) missed practice with injuries. … Reserve OLBs Ola Adeniyi (hip) and Anthony Chickillo (ribs) were limited. … OLB Sutton Smith was re-signed to the practice squad. RB Darrin Hall was released.