Pokes NFL Preseason Week Two Round-up: Rudolph and Warren Involved in Win Over Jaguars

Mason Rudolph played the entire second half of the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-15 win over Jacksonville Saturday night in week two of the NFL preseason. The former Oklahoma State quarterback was 17-of-21 for 127-yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. It was Rudolph’s one-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Snead that provided the winning points for Pittsburgh. 

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Rudolph had the game winner over Jacksonville.

The fact that Rudolph played the entire second half and was third of the Steelers quarterbacks doesn’t look good for Rudolph. It appears Mitch Trubisky is the likely starter and now rookie sensation Kenny Pickett is second in line. That caused Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin to have this backhanded compliment for Rudolph after the game.

"I thought he looked like a varsity guy in a JV game," said Tomlin. "And I told him that. It was reminiscent of when we had Charlie Batch and Byron Leftwich as backups. When you got a veteran guy like that late in the preseason game at the quarterback position, he should be the best player on the field, it should show, and I thought it did."

I believe the Steelers are showcasing Rudolph for a trade before the start of the season to a team badly needing a quarterback, either a starter or a high caliber backup.

On the other side of that game, undrafted free agent defensive tackle Israel Antwine had a tackle. It was his first since having a sack and a tackle for loss in his first pro game in Canton at the Hall of Fame Game loss to the Raiders.

Former Cowboys running back and undrafted free agent rookie Jaylen Warren, who has risen to second team with the Steelers played some in the third quarter with Rudolph. Warren had three carries for just three-yards, but he caught all three of the passes targeted for him for 24-yards with the longest going for a first down and 13-yards. 

Malcolm Rodriguez has been getting a ton of attention and is currently starting at linebacker for the Detroit Lions. Rodriguez had two tackles and one was unassisted in the Lions 27-26 win at Indianapolis on Saturday. 

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Harper tackles an L.A. Chargers player in a joint practice at training camp.

Meanwhile, Saturday night another former Oklahoma State linebacker and a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Devin Harper had eight tackles with three of those unassited in the Cowboys 32-18 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Harper also had a strong week in practice as the Cowboys and Chargers hooked it up for a couple of joint practices. 

In that same game, second-year Charger linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga, who made the team as a rookie free agent last season had six tackles and all six were unassisted. 

The Cowboys finish preseason play next week hosting Seattle with Harper looking like a good bet to make the team, at least be kept on the practice squad.

The Chicago Bears have tranistioned second-year Oklahoma State second round draft pick Tevin Jenkins to guard. He is healthy and played quite a bit in the preseason win over the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night. 

Friday night Chuba Hubbard carried the ball six time for 22-yards and a 3.7-yards average in a 20-10 loss at New England. The Carolina Panthers backup running back also caught one pass for minus four-yards. 

Corner Christian Holmes was a seventh-round pick of the Washington Commanders. He played in the 24-14 loss to Kansas City but did not register any stats.

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Tyrone Johnson catches a pass in camp for the Raiders.

The Las Vegas Raiders beat the Miami Dolphins 15-13 and former OSU receiver Tyron Johnson had four receptions for 32-yards and a long catch of 16-yards. Chris Lacy picked up last week by the Raiders had two passes thrown his way but did not come up with them. Dillon Stoner has been actived by Las Vegas off the physically unable to perform list but not sure he played in the game with the Dolphins. 

Tay Martin had two receptions for San Francisco in the 17-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Martin only picked up seven-yards on the pair of catches. 

The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Cleveland Browns 21-20 on Sunday. Former OSU offensive lineman Josh Sills played for the winning side at left guard. Former Poke corner A.J. Green had two tackles for the Browns, one unassisted.