(Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
After the draft, the topic of mentoring in the NFL was frequently discussed, as Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill said "it's not his job" to mentor rookie quarterback Malik Willis. Most people thought Tannehill was petty, but others agreed with him saying the responsibility falls on the quarterback coach to mentor.
In an article by Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last week, Batko revealed an interesting quote from Mason Rudolph. Being that he's a veteran now, Rudolph was asked if he finds himself trying to take on the responsibility of helping first-round pick Kenny Pickett, as opposed to being … “Being like someone else?” Rudolph said.
Batko said Rudolph didn't directly say Ben Roethlisberger's name, but it sure seems like that's who he was referring to. It's no secret that Rudolph and Roethlisberger really never saw eye-to-eye. Of course, things didn't get off to a good start, as Roethlisberger infamously wasn't happy when the Steelers selected Rudolph in the third round in 2018. Roethlisberger went on 93.7 The Fan and said he was surprised the Steelers went with a quarterback in the third round because they need help to win now.
I wrote about Rudolph's comments last week, and Devlin "Duck" Hodges caught wind of it and tweeted a picture of Roethlisberger high-fiving him as he came off the field. I'm not sure if Hodges knew that the quote was from Rudolph or if he thought it was an opinion article. If it was the latter, that's pretty interesting, and suggests that maybe Rudolph should stop taking shots at Roethlisberger and take more blame for his career not panning out so far.
Kenny Pickett was asked about being mentored by the veteran quarterbacks at minicamp on Wednesday, specifically Trubisky, and Pickett said it's not their jobs to mentor him.
“The mentor word — I don’t think it’s his job to sit there and teach me,” Pickett said. “I’m going to ask questions and watch him. It’s really my job to ask questions, to learn from him and watch how he does things. And how they go about their business. There’s a fine line between that mentor thing. We have a great relationship ship and everything is going smoothly.”
Pickett also revealed that he plans on training with Trubisky in South Florida this summer.
“I plan on going down to Florida,” Pickett said. “I know Mitch is down there, so we’ve already talked about meeting up down there and training a little bit, and hanging out.”