Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger wished Mason Rudolph ‘good luck in rookie minicamp’

In wake of all of that, Rudolph revealed on Friday that Roethlisberger reached out to Rudolph to tell him good luck in rookie minicamp, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.

“He reached out [Thursday] and said, ‘Hey, good luck in rookie minicamp.’ I was really appreciative of that,” Rudolph said after his first practice Friday. “I just said, ‘Hey, thanks, look forward to meeting you.’ Wasn’t a whole lot [of dialogue], but it meant a lot that he reached out.”

This is an encouraging decision made by the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback, but it doesn’t exactly give off the notion that it was a genuine choice made by him. It looks like the way things have unfolded over the last several days with the criticism that Roethlisberger has faced has forced his hand a bit to extend a welcoming gesture to the Oklahoma State product.

All of this began with the 36-year-old responding to Rudolph’s stating that he didn’t need to help him get adjusted to the NFL, which gave off the sense of some bitterness toward the rookie quarterback for being selected by the Steelers. This painted Roethlisberger in the corner of appearing to be petty and selfish for not making an effort to welcome aboard and guide the 22-year-old.

Nonetheless, it is still a step in the right direction as things could have quickly become quite uneasy between the two with heading into training camp that begins in less than two months. This situation can finally get off the right foot once the team officially begins its offseason workouts in the near future and should get the team on track to compete once again next season.