With Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger still on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the team can only prepare Mason Rudolph to start this week.
“We’re going to build our plan around getting Mason ready to play with highlight his talents and skills relative to the opponents that we’re intending to play,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said.
As for when Roethlisberger will return to the Steelers, no one knows the answer. Vaccinated players on the reserve/COVID-19 list need to be asymptomatic for 48 hours and produce two negative tests 24 hours apart to return to the active roster.
We know that Roethlisberger was not asymptomatic. The first step for the quarterback is to be symptom-free for 48 hours.
Last November when Roethlisberger landed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list as a close contact to Vance McDonald. He didn’t practice all week but cleared protocols and came out and had a four-touchdown game that Sunday.
“If we get to a point in the week where Ben has an opportunity to get on a moving train, that’s exactly what he’ll do,” Tomlin said. “He’ll be capable of executing the game plan. I really have no reservations about that.”
