Randy Fichtner was beyond candid when it came to assessing the performance of Mason Rudolph in his first start in place of injured Ben Roethlisberger in the Steelers' 24-20 loss at San Francisco last week.
Fichtner has taken a lot of criticism for what many felt was a pretty conservative game plan in the first half, when Rudolph was 8 of 15 for just 40 yards in the first two quarters. But Fichtner said Friday at the Rooney Complex Not by a long shot -- no pun intended.
"I don’t know if it was conservative. We put ourselves in position," Fichtner said. "We had some opportunities for some throws and even for some shots. If you don’t connect or throw them, it never materializes. We were able to go down the field early. You’ve got to throw them. You’ve got to attempt to throw it there."
Quarterback meet bus. Enjoy your time under it.
Rudolph finished the game 14 of 27 for 174 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, as he completed a pair of deeper passes in the second half to JuJu Smith-Schuster and Diontae Johnson for long touchdowns. But Smith-Schuster's 76-yard touchdown catch traveled 12 yards in the air on a crossing pattern that he took the remaining 65 yards for a score. Johnson's touchdown was a true deep shot. Overall, Rudolph was 2 of 13 for those 115 yards on those passes that traveled at least 2 yards past the line of scrimmage.
Rudolph admitted he wasn't quite as aggressive -- or accurate -- as he could have been and knows he has to be better.
"We have done it more this week in practice," he said. "Now, I’ve just got to go and do it."
Fichtner wasn't totally throwing shade. He did admit there were some extenuating circumstances, when I asked if perhaps Rudolph's tentativeness was because he's a young quarterback.
"Maybe. I don’t look at him as young. He’s been here a year and a half," Fichtner said. "Maybe from an in-helmet perspective he’s young. Maybe first time on the road, first time silent cadence, that situation, maybe. He knows that’s not an excuse. Our performance has to be better."
And maybe the receivers could do a little better job of getting open, as well. According to the NFL's NextGen stats, 49.1 percent of Rudolph's passing attempts were to players who had a defender within a yard of them. That was the highest percentage in the NFL last week.
Part of the reason for that could have been because Rudolph threw so many passes at or behind the line of scrimmage. But he also admits that's just life in the NFL. Receivers aren't going to be as open as they were in college.
"The tight windows are big windows at this level," Rudolph said. "You've got to adjust and try to trust your guys to make plays, throw to spots and not necessarily people."
That can be a tough adjustment for young quarterbacks to make at this level. But it's one the Steelers need Rudolph to make quickly.
Fichtner feels Rudolph has it in him. But he needs to let the ball rip.
"Whether he’s hesitant, didn’t feel comfortable or didn’t like the matchup, all things come into play," Fichtner said. "It could have been protection, those type of things. I’m not second-guessing Mason at all. We’re going to be as aggressive as we can be from start to finish."
LOLLEY'S VIEW
It sounds strange to hear a Steelers offensive coordinator be critical of the team's quarterback play, because we haven't heard that in a very, very long time.
But Fichtner is right, to a certain degree. When Rudolph did have guys open a few times in the first half, he missed on the throws. As for having available shots to take, well, that's debatable.
The fact remains that Rudolph does have to play better than he did in the opener. Completing just two passes beyond the line of scrimmage isn't going to get it done.
But neither is having the kid check down all the time. If the Steelers don't want that to happen, don't give him that option. Make it a situation where he either runs pass plays that go down the field or checks into a running play -- not a WR screen.
Those worked a lot of the time because teams feared Antonio Brown. And he could take a WR screen and turn it into a 10-yard gain pretty quickly. But with opponents pressing these receivers so much, many times those are going to turn into no gain or negative plays, unless they are blocked up perfectly. And that rarely happens.
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