Mason Rudolph quickly called a timeout after completing a pass to Christian Scotland-Williamson, gathering the offense around him. A full 50-plus seconds remained on the clock as the offense set up inside the 20.
At the snap, Rudolph scanned the field and found Justin Thomas on a shallow crossing route and the first-year receiver from Georgia Tech raced around the corner and into the end zone on the final play of Steelers' minicamp for a touchdown.
It was the perfect ending for the Steelers as they wrapped up their OTA and minicamp sessions and headed off for a month of relaxation before reporting to training camp in Latrobe July 25.
"Yeah, I needed that," Thomas told me afterward.
So did Rudolph, but not in the same sense.
The two-minute drill was the first one run by Rudolph in these sessions. And he made it look seamless.
"It was fun to learn the new operation, throw the ball, listen to the microphone with Randy Fichtner," Rudolph told me after practice. "It helped out a lot. It was a good experience."
That would be a good way to describe the entire OTA and minicamp experience for the third-round draft pick and heir apparent to Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback.
Rudolph continually showed poise throughout this process. The next big step will be continuing to take steps forward when the Steelers return to the practice field next month at Saint Vincent College.
But Rudolph is happy with his progress thus far.
"Yeah, really happy," he said. "I think I had a great minicamp. I made a lot of mistakes in the first rookie minicamp. I corrected them. In OTAs, it was similar, threw a couple of picks. But I had a great finish. It was kind of the same trend to minicamp. I’m looking forward to how I progressed. I’m utilizing these next four weeks to get up to speed with the guys. I probably won’t get to 100 percent, but I want to close the gap quickly. I want to mentally know it so I can physically get out there and cut it loose."
While the veteran players head off to parts unknown to begin their down time before training camp, the rookies will be here a bit longer before being released into the world next Wednesday.
Rudolph plans a quick family vacation and then it's back to work in his hometown of Rock Hill, S.C. There, he'll work out with some local receivers and perhaps even a family member or two.
"I’ve got guys at home. I’ve got a guy named Jaleel Scott, who’s a receiver who was a draft pick of the Ravens," Rudolph said. "He’s from my hometown. I’m sure Cordarrelle Patterson will be around, being a Rock Hill guy. I’ve got a great routine. I’ve never been worried about my routine or how I take care of business, whether that’s training physically or studying my playbook, going through scripts mentally, getting quizzed by my parents on the white board. That’s all part of it."
Yes, his parents test him on the white board on what he needs to know.
His father, Brett, played linebacker at the University of North Carolina, so it's not too much of a stretch for dad to test his son on the intricacies of the soft spot in a Cover-2 or how to beat the zone blitz.
He just won't ask his dad to run any pass patterns for him.
"I’ve got my brother (Logan) that I’m going to use. He's a defensive end now (at Clemson)," he said. "But he's still got some hands from high school. I try not to get my dad out there. He’ll break something or strain something. But he’s there."
The Rudolphs are a football family, to be sure. And Mason is looking forward to getting back into his normal routine at home for a few weeks before coming back for his first NFL season.
Rudolph had no issue with hearing Fichtner call plays through the speakers in his helmet for the first time Thursday. He's prepared for this his whole life.
So when Fichtner continued to build stuff into the offensive package on a daily basis over the past month, the usual rookie mistakes didn't show up on the practice field. There was never the lack of command in the huddle seen from many rookies, especially those that come from a spread offense similar to the one Rudolph ran at Oklahoma State.
"I’ve had that since Day 1," he told me. "You can command the huddle when you know what you’re doing. It’s learning the new stuff that gets installed. There’s been new stuff added every day. Right when you think you know it, there’s new stuff installed. That’s the way it is. You regurgitate it, take it on the field and that’s all."
Fichtner has been happy with what he's seen of his rookie quarterback, as well. The new Steelers offensive coordinator doubles as the quarterbacks coach and could be seen close to the rookie on a daily basis, talking him through plays or explaining what he was looking for in certain situations.
"Mason’s been everything we’ve asked," Fichtner said. "He throws a nice ball. Physically, it’s all there. Mentally, learning is an acquired taste and has to come through reps, physical reps and in-helmet perspective, things that you’re going to get."
Obviously, that will continue over the next month. Rudolph said he's sure he'll continue to have questions about things as he keeps studying the playbook in his attempt to hit the ground running in Latrobe.
But the coaching staff will surely love his eagerness.
"I’ll be blowing up the offensive staff’s phones while they’re on vacation," Rudolph said. "Hopefully, they’ll pick up. I’m sure they will."
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers mini-camp, UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, June 14, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS