Steelers QB Mason Rudolph (1.3.21)

Steelers QB Mason Rudolph:

On his overall assessment of his play:

“It came down to one play and a combination of didn’t get it done there and the two-point play, as well. I thought the DB got sling-shotted a little bit and a two-point play is hard for a referee to make a call there. We lost and that is all that matters.”

On if he was able to prove he can be a starting NFL QB:

“I have to get back and watch the tape. I felt like we made enough plays to take care of the game in the end being down a couple of scores. It really came down to those four-point swings, lack of touchdowns in the first half and those drives when we only got field goals. (K) Matt (Wright) did a great job of putting those through the uprights for us, but we have to come away with seven there instead of three.”

On the Steelers gamelan against the Browns to attack deep:

“That was a part of the plan coming in. We knew we wanted to challenge them deep and take our shots carefully, as well as taking what was there underneath and if they play Cover 2 or deep zone. (Steelers WR) Chase (Claypool) made a great play, and he made great plays all day and (Steelers WR) Diontae (Johnson) there at the end and (Steelers WR) Juju (Smith-Schuster) extending drives on third down. I am proud of the way those guys played today for me and for our offense. I have to make a better play on the two-point throw to send us into OT.”

On his ability to get back on track after his last showing against Browns:

“As a backup quarterback in this league, we do not get many opportunities and I was excited to get this one this week. It didn’t matter who the opponent was. I was excited for myself, as well as a handful of others to prove ourselves to our teammates and coaches. Obviously, you want to win the ball game.”

On his decisions to go deep against Browns defense, including some misses:

“We tried to take as many shots as we could. That is something I will have to go back and look at the tape, if you had a specific example for me. We threw the ball a lot down the field. On the ball to Chase Claypool, if the DB was all the way, we might have gotten the PI along with the touchdown, but that is something I will have to go back and look at. That is what you do with evaluation is you say this is what we could have done differently, and you try to learn from those things.”

On if he had an interaction with DE Myles Garret or other Browns players related to last year’s incident:

“Myles came over and said, ‘Good game’ postgame and that is all it was. I told him good luck and that I had a lot of respect for him.”

On his mentality after throwing the interception followed by two TDs:

“I was encouraged when we got back in the game. Our defense did a great job getting us a stop to get the ball back, especially on a fourth down. Those guys on that side of the ball played well all day and gave us a shot. They gave us a shot to win the game. I am proud of the way we protected. (Steelers G) David DeCastro and (T) Alejandro (Villanueva) pulling the weight and the way the led the offensive line with the absence of (C) Maurkice (Pouncey), they did a great job of protection all day. It comes down to a couple of plays.”

On his confidence in throwing to Claypool:

“When he is one on one for such a big guy 230 pounds, he really wins on go-balls. Maybe his 40 time isn’t as fast as those guys on paper, but he is a pretty darn good football player when he puts the pads on so you give his a chance in those situations. We had a whole slew of guys who played well today – Juju, Diontae Johnson, (Steelers WR) James Washington all played well.”

On the difficulties on third and fourth and long during the game:

“Obviously, you forced one there. I had one guy there in gap and those are the ones you don’t want to compound an error. You want to just throw the ball away and help our net punt, as (Steelers offensive coordinator) Coach Randy Fichtner says. We talked about it all week, we are going to take our shots, but when it is not there, we are not going to force it. We are going to take what the defense gives us and it is all about finding that balance as a quarterback developing in this league.”

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