While Devlin Hodges has gone through some rough moments in the past couple of weeks, and we’ve subsequently seen his status shift when he was pulled from the last game, one thing we haven’t seen change is his confidence, and his belief that he is capable of playing ball at this level of the sport.
The undrafted rookie out of Samford is and has been the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers for now the majority of the back half of the 2019 regular season, preparing to start his fifth consecutive game and sixth in total. He has lost the past two, during which he was benched and threw six interceptions to one touchdown, but he is now the last man standing.
And that’s fine with him, because he knows that he’s going to play his game, as he always has. As long as he has an opportunity, that’s the only thing that matters. Whatever he did last week or the week before, good or bad, is in the past, and won’t dictate the present.
“It doesn’t change my confidence”, he said of the rough outings the past two weeks, via a transcript provided by the team’s media department. “I have been watching some film, understanding what I can work on, what I can get better at. Really, it’s just helping me progress and get better and just excited to get back out there”.
he wouldn’t be out there at all, most likely, had Mason Rudolph not gotten injured, perhaps multiple times, during last week’s game against the New York Jets. He came in during the second quarter after Hodges was pulled and played some of the best football he’s shown yet, coming back from 10-0 to tie the game.
When Hodges returned, he failed to add any points for himself, and the Steelers lost 16-10. With the loss, they also lost their ability to control their own fate for the postseason, as they now need assistance from other teams tomorrow in order to advance.
“I feel like it’s a must-win every week”, he allowed, but of this game, “it’s definitely a must-win. We have to win the game and see what other things happen. We’re focused on us and focused on what we’ve got to do to win the game”.
Hodges made his NFL debut a couple of months ago against tomorrow’s opponent, the Baltimore Ravens, stepping in for Rudolph after he took a shot from Earl Thomas that left him with a concussion. Duck would start the next week, and win on the road, helping to convince the team they could turn to him when Rudolph struggled several games down the road.
Now Hodges has struggled, but after attempting to turn back to Rudolph, he is unavailable, so the only thing on the menu—is Duck.
