Mason Rudolph played well in some of the biggest starts of his career down the stretch of the 2023 season.
Things didn’t go well for the Steelers quarterback or the rest of the team on Monday, as Pittsburgh fell to Buffalo 31-17 in the wild card round. But now Rudolph’s career heads into more uncertainty, as he’ll be an unrestricted free agent again in March.
“I have no idea what’s going to happen. None of us in there know what’s going to happen tomorrow, much less next year,” Rudolph said in his postgame press conference. “I’m still thinking about the game and the loss, and it hurts and it stings. And you know, we probably could have done better today. I think the turnovers early, myself included, didn’t really give us the ability to put our best foot forward. So, that’s what’s on the forefront of the mind right now.”
Rudolph had not appeared in a game since 2021 when he came in at the end of the loss to the Colts on Dec. 16. He then started the next three, leading Pittsburgh to three victories and a playoff berth.
The 28-year-old quarterback completed 74.3 percent of his throws for 719 yards with three touchdowns and no picks in the regular season. On Monday, he was 22-of-39 for 229 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in the loss to Buffalo.
Does Rudolph think he’s shown enough to be a starter in the league?
“Yeah, I think when I go back and look at the totality of the tape, I’ll get a better feel for it,” Rudolph said. “But I think right now obviously, the plan was to come here and get a win and we fell short to a great team.
“But I think I can say I was proud of what we as an offense put on tape these last few weeks. Just the way we celebrated, the way guys cheered for each other. Whether the run game was working whether the receivers were rolling … we had chemistry and we had belief and love for one another.”
The Steelers selected Rudolph in the third round of the 2018 draft. He’s been a free agent multiple times but has continued to stick with Pittsburgh — and he might do the same thing again.
“I love the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Rudolph said. “They’ve been my only home for six years. We’ll see what happens.
“Like I said, it’s not really my decision. So, a lot of it’s out of my control. We’ll see what happens.”
