Garrett planning to treat Rudolph like any other QB

Players have a history, but Steelers backup won’t get a ‘pillow.’

Myles Garrett was CLEVELAND— asked if he’ll have any hesitation to hit Mason Rudolph given in the wake of the helmet incident last year.

“Get out of here with that,” Garrett said. “That won’t run through my mind at all.”

Hewentontosay thatRudolph, who’s starting for the Steelers in place of Ben Roethlisberger on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium, will get the same treatment every other quarterback in the NFL does from him.

“He’ll get hit just like everybody else,” Garrett said. “I’m not going to put a pillow underneath his head before I take him to the ground. But I’m not going to do anything extra. It’s just a game. It’s a Steelers game. It’s a divisional game. It’s important.

“But going against him, it changes nothing forme. And, just likewith any other player or any other quarterback, if he reaches out his hand for me to help him up, I’m going to do it. And if I see himand he’s on the ground, it doesn’t change my mindset at all with him back there.”

Garrett, named a captain by coach Kevin Stefanski for this game, was suspendedthe fifinal six games of last season after ripping

offRudolph’s helmet and hitting him over the head with it. Garrett later saidRudolph called him the “N” word, a charge that Rudolph vehemently denies.

Garrett told cleveland.com in September that hewants to clear the air withRudolph, and believes that can happen despite their disagreement over the racial slur.

Rudolph said Friday that Garrett hasn’t reached out to him yet, but that he’d be open to hearing what he has to say.

Garrett also said he plans to address the team at some point about the magnitude of the game, but that it has to come naturally.

“Every play could be our last,” he said.

Brownson to fill in as receivers coach

Callie Brownson, the Browns chief of staff, will get the call to fill in for a position coach again this week. Brownson will take over for PassGameCoordinator/Wide ReceiversCoachChadO’Shea against the Steelers.

Brownson stepped in for tight ends coach DrewPetzing against Jacksonville on Nov. 29when Petzing’s wife, Louisa, gave birth to the couple’s first child.

“I was a little nervous about getting ‘Wally Pipp-ed’ to be perfectly honest,” Petzing said a few weeks after. “I am just glad they let me back into my own job.”

Petzing lauded Brownson

for her composure and adaptability and said players didn’t miss a beat when she coached them in Jacksonville.

“She has been awesome,” Petzing said. “There are no words to express what she means to this organization, to our staff and to me individually. She has been great to work with. Really, really impressive in terms of the way she attacks her job and really how much she does. She has her hand in every aspect of our organization. Tohavesomebodylikethatto rely onwhen there are a lot of reasons in 2020 that you could miss a game ormiss a practice and to have someone like her in the building it is very reassuring.

“She has done an amazing job.”