Mason Rudolph: Myles Garrett has not reached out to me in any capacity

[Steely McBeam]

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Quarterback Mason Rudolph will start for the Steelers on Sunday, which means Browns defensive end Myles Garrett will line up across from him throughout the contest.

Garrett was suspended last year for swinging Rudolph’s helmet at the quarterback late in Cleveland’s Week 11 victory over Pittsburgh. Head coaches Kevin Stefanski and Mike Tomlin both said this week the teams have moved on from the incident, and now Rudolph has as well.

“This game is too big to worry about anything external that happened years ago,” Rudolph said Friday, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.

Rudolph explained he’s not concerned with getting closure over the incident. Garrett accused Rudolph of using a racial slur as a catalyst for swinging the helmet, which Rudolph has vehemently denied.

“He has not reached out to me in any capacity, but I have a lot of respect for Myles,” Rudolph said, via Kimberley A. Martin of ESPN.

Rudolph added he’s willing to hear Garrett out if the defensive end would like to talk, but otherwise just concerned with how Garrett will affect the game.

“He’s a menace in the backfield. He’s very disruptive,” Rudolph said. “We obviously are very aware of that and we treat him with respect.”

The Browns will clinch a playoff berth with a victory over the Steelers on Sunday. Rudolph did play seven snaps in Pittsburgh’s Week 6 victory over Cleveland, so it won’t be the first time he lines up behind center since the incident. But we’ll see if everyone can control their emotions in what will be one of the Browns’ biggest games since returning to the league in 1999.