When the Steelers signed Ben Roethlisberger to a new contract extension that locks him in for three more years as the team's quarterback, it had to be a blow to the backups, Josh Dobbs and Mason Rudolph. After all, both know that, as long as Roethlisberger is still around, their path to their dream of being an NFL starter faces a pretty big roadblock.
That does not, however, mean either was discouraged.
"Football is a game of uncertainty," Dobbs told me this week as the Steelers wrapped up Week 2 of their OTAs. "You can’t give your mind that thought. You’ve just got to be ready. I’ve seen it at the high-school level in my junior year. I’ve seen it at the college level. You see it happen. You don’t pay any attentions to years. We just want him to play and play at a high level. When one of us is called on, we want to go in and play at that level as well."
Which one of the two will be called upon if something were to happen to Roethlisberger remains to be seen.
Dobbs, who was the primary backup to Roethlisberger last season, isn't about to concede anything to Rudolph, a third-round pick a year ago who was inactive for all 16 of the team's games.
After all, it was Dobbs who was guaranteed of nothing a year ago after the Steelers' selection of Rudolph in the draft. With veteran backup Landry Jones expected to be Roethlisberger's backup, Dobbs was considered to be on his way out of Pittsburgh.
Instead, he didn't back down from the challenge and put together a strong offseason and training camp, beating out Jones for the No. 2 spot.
"The urgency is still there," Dobbs told me. "In this profession, you never take anything for granted. You still want to put your best foot forward every day. Of course, you’re competing. You want to complete every pass when you get out there. Even last year, when people were saying I was the odd man out, the urgency was there. The urgency was there my rookie year. The urgency was there in high school, in college. The urgency will be there as long as I play."
Rudolph feels the same way.
He wasn't happy not throwing a pass once the season began last year. And even though he and Dobbs are longtime friends -- they attended passing camps together as high schoolers -- it's the competition for No. 2 that is driving both players.
"Everybody on this team loves competition, that's why we're here," Rudolph said. "My plan is to be the backup and I'm going to do everything in my power to take care of that and earn it every single day. That's my plan."
Unfortunately, one of the two is going to be disappointed.
But that goes with the territory when you're a backup quarterback. It's not like being a backup at another position, where you might still see time on special teams or in certain packages. The starting quarterback -- or at least one of Roethlisberger's talents -- only comes off the field if he's injured.
Dobbs saw that first hand a year ago when he sat most of the season until called upon in Baltimore when Roethlisberger left the field for a second-and-20 play from the Steelers' 5 early in the fourth quarter.
Instead of simply handing off the ball, Dobbs completed a 22-yard pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster that got the Steelers out of trouble.
"I relived it that night," Dobbs told me. "I honestly haven’t relived it a lot. You’re always itching for the next one. It’s kind of like that golf shot theory. You always go back to the course. You might suck all day, but it’s that one shot that keeps you coming back. I had that opportunity to make a play. It keeps you coming back for more. It keeps you focused. In this situation, you never know when your opportunity is going to come, but you have to be ready for it. It keeps your mind mentally tough in a different area."
And it will keep driving both young quarterbacks throughout this offseason competition.
Dobbs wants another shot to get on the field in an NFL game, however it might come. He wants to have that feeling again. Rudolph is just looking for the chance to live it at the highest level of the game.
And neither minds the competition.
"That’s how you go in and compete on a Sunday," Dobbs told me. "Everybody with the Steelers wants to compete. We want to go on long runs in the playoffs. We want to compete for Super Bowls. That’s the way we want to be. If you don’t have that urgency, then all is lost."
