Randy Fichtner has been with the Steelers as an assistant coach for 13 years, first as wide receivers coach, then as quarterbacks coach and, for the past two seasons, as offensive coordinator. He's seen a lot of things. He's also been with Ben Roethlisberger a long time.
But Sunday in San Francisco will mark his first game as coordinator without Roethlisberger.
It creates a whole lot of the unknown for Fichtner, who has leaned on Roethlisberger's 16 years of experience as much as the quarterback has leaned on his playcalling. Fichtner, however, hasn't pouted. He doesn't have time. Not when there's another game coming up and he's got to get Mason Rudolph ready for his first NFL start.
"He's gone down before," Fichtner said Thursday of Roethlisberger. "A lot of times, you pull the cape off and he's back. You assume that's the case again. When it was known that he was not going to be back, there was no time to blink. That was a whole different story. You know the relationship I have with him. I've been here for 13 years. When anybody is injured, it's a sad moment for anybody. I told the group, I had time to be sad that night, because we lost, first. The next day, you're back to work."
With Rudolph, there's no time to not work. The 2018 third-round draft pick has impressed teammates and the coaching staff with his approach to the game since the day he arrived here last season from Oklahoma State.
And Fichtner believes Rudolph's approach will serve him well.
"He's a worker, an absolute worker. He works 24/7. Sometimes, I've got to work hard to have a joke with him because he's that serious," Fichtner said. "It matters to him. He cares. He's listened as a solider and a confidant with Ben. That in-helmet perspective, he didn't get that in the year and a half he's been here because of Ben. But I know he got a lot of it because he listens. He pays attention. He worked at his job and he listened to Ben. That's part of the learning curve, too."
Roethlisberger was at the team's practice Thursday at the Rooney Sports Complex giving the young quarterback words of encouragement and helping him through the process.
Fichtner has been a big part of that, as well. He and Rudolph went through the process this week of drawing up a game plan that will accentuate the young quarterback's strengths. It's the same process Fichtner would go through each week with Roethlisberger.
"We have a good feel for what he likes to call and what I like him to call," Rudolph said. "We started with that. Nothing is out of the ordinary. We're in the same routine that Ben did. I try to follow that. It's a great opportunity for me to have seen Ben work and change. I've never really had that great, older quarterback to watch, even in college. We had some guys who played sparingly. It's been awesome."
In that respect, Fichtner said Rudolph has been great to work with.
Every young quarterback -- or player, for that matter -- is accustomed to being the main man on their team. When they join the NFL, they typically have to take a step back from that, swallow their pride and become just another player.
Rudolph did that seamlessly.
"Young guys, as a general rule, they all come from programs where they were the leader. They all had their own huddle. (It was) 'I'm the guy.' It's an I'm-the-guy world right now," Fichtner said. "He's not that way. When I saw Ben walk on the field today, I saw those two communicating and things like that, the encouragement Ben gave him in practice. Really, other than the fact Ben is injured, I've been really encouraged by the two days of practice we've had."
That doesn't mean there aren't concerns. Roethlisberger has missed short stretches before, including the first four games of the 2010 season while suspended and five starts in 2015 with shoulder and foot injuries. The Steelers went 6-3 in those games and made the playoffs both years. But they also knew Roethlisberger was going to return.
Overall, the Steelers are 15-11 in games in which Roethlisberger has not started since he joined the team in 2004. And at 0-2, they have dug themselves a significant hole early this season.
Fichtner's message to his young quarterback?
"Protect the football, obviously. Be yourself. And be us," he said. "We need to be ourselves, for sure. That means it's a group offense. You don't put it all on one person's shoulders. It wasn't all on Ben's shoulder's either. It's collectively, as a group."
Rudolph relieved Roethlisberger in the second half of the game against the Seahawks and completed 12 of 19 passes for 112 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The interception wasn't his fault -- it tipped off the hands of Donte Moncrief -- but that's the life of a quarterback.
Everyone has to be better, from the offense to the defense to the coaching. But because of the nature of the position, handling the football on every offensive play of every game, the quarterback position is unique in sports.
Fichtner will have to adjust the way he calls a game, as well, as the Steelers work their way through life -- at least for the rest of this season -- without their franchise quarterback.
But he won't back off simply because Rudolph is lacking in experience.
"Not unlike Ben, you stay within a certain comfort zone with things," Fichtner said. "And then you push the envelope, too. You're not going to be stagnant. You can't say, 'We've got a new quarterback, we can't throw the ball.' You don't really know what you can do until you try something."
