Steelers Place Ben Roethlisberger On IR, Promote QB Devlin Hodges

Mike Tomlin confirmed Ben Roethlisberger will miss the rest of this season due to the elbow injury he sustained Sunday, and the Steelers moved quickly to adjust their quarterback depth chart. The team placed Roethlisberger on IR and promoted Devlin Hodges from its practice squad.

Recently re-signed to Pittsburgh’s practice squad, Hodges was with the team in the preseason. He completed 20 of 38 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns. Hodges won the Walter Payton Award, given to Division I-FCS’ top player, in 2016 while at Samford.

This will mark a major change for the Steelers, who in 2018 had Josh Dobbs installed as Roethlisberger’s backup. Dobbs is now in Jacksonville, and Hodges will back up Mason Rudolph. The Steelers just extended Big Ben this offseason. He is under contract through the 2021 season.

Pittsburgh plans to look for another quarterback, with the likely hope the to-be-determined acquisition will be stationed between Rudolph and Hodges on the depth chart, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets.

The Steelers took Rudolph in the 2018 third round. Big Ben was critical of the pick, as it used an asset on a developmental quarterback rather than a position player who could help immediately. Unless the Steelers bring in a veteran backup, they will find out plenty about Rudolph this season.

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