Good Wednesday to you Steelers’ fans.
Something is not lining up in regards to Mason Rudolph’s concussion protocol. Gerry Dulac reported Monday that Rudolph had passed concussion protocol prior to the Sunday night game in Los Angeles. Beat writers Joe Rutter and Mark Kaboly seemed as mystified by that as the rest of us. They were both under the impression that Rudolph had not passed through protocol. Steelers’ PR man Burt Lauten would eventually tell Rutter that Rudolph had not yet been cleared by an independent neurologist. You may wondering “why does any of this matter? We won the game so let’s move on.” It matters because there are rumblings that the Steelers are purposefully limiting Rudolph’s play in an effort to limit a potential controversy next year when Ben Roethlisberger returns. First of all, that theory assumes a hell of a lot. Like for instance that Rudolph was (or will be) playing extremely well and the team was winning far more than it was losing. I will say this; I find this whole thing suspicious. In the majority of cases, persons with concussions are typically not cleared to fly because of the dangers associated with the altitude changes and so on. Again, this isn’t necessarily the case for EVERY person with a concussion but I thought it odd to see Rudolph in LA if he hadn’t passed the tests. I’m going to go ahead and make the assumption that we won’t ever know why Dulac tweeted what he did but the unfortunate thing here is that this indicates a breakdown in communication within the organization. Kinda sounds like the Steelers’ secondary doesn’t it?
Trade Thoughts
Lots of NFL moves last evening involving teams on the Steelers’ schedule. The Rams traded cornerback Marcus Peters to the Ravens for LB Kenny Young and a draft pick. The Rams would then trade two first rounders (’20 and ’21) and a fourth to Jacksonville for Jalen Ramsey. The Rams weren’t done though as they also made a trade with Cleveland for offensive lineman Austin Corbett for an undisclosed draft pick. Two things… First, Ramsey being dealt further proves that if you are a great player and you want to play somewhere else, all you have to do is be an asshole. I believe we have some experience with this don’t we Steelers’ fans? Second, the Rams will not have a first round pick until 2022. They could always trade back in but as of now that’s the case. I believe this is the definition of “All-In.”
Tweet of the Day… This is true.
When one of the classiest guys in NFL history weighs in .. there’s a problem. https://t.co/dEVo1vQUNc
— MikeTirico (@miketirico) October 15, 2019
The Reality Check
At any point in a 17 week season there comes a natural occurrence of “what if?” from fans. Steelers’ fans are no different. At 2-4 there has been plenty of second guessing. “We lost to the Seahawks by two, the Ravens in OT and should have beat the Niners too!” The reality check here isn’t that those were so close it’s that this is the NFL in a nutshell. The Detroit Lions, an annual laughing stock if you will are 2-2-1. They are literally just a couple of plays from being 5-0. The Steelers are no different and this illustrates my point. Every week and in every game the contests come down to just a few plays. Some of it is luck, some is planning and some is just flat-out being better than your opponent. Our Steelers have been on the other end of this in recent seasons too so we should be able to understand just how fine of a line the NFL is.
Eli Rogers…
is not coming back to the Steelers. It seems there are several groups of fans who are troubled by the fact that the Steelers haven’t brought him back with such a thin wide receiving corps at this time. As I said yesterday, Rogers has visited with several teams and if the Steelers haven’t been one of them then I think there’s your clue about the way they feel about him.
Have a great day Steeler Nation!
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