AP

Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph was as bad as he could be in the first quarter Monday night.

But Steelers coach Mike Tomlin never considered pulling him for Devlin Hodges.

Via Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Tomlin brushed off a question about changing quarterbacks with a “Next.”

“We’ve got a lot of confidence in him,” Tomlin said. “We didn’t need to see that. We’ve been working with him going on a couple years. That’s just in his DNA. That’s one reason the guys rally around him and believe in him.”

That confidence was tested, as Rudolph got off to a seriously slow start.

His first pass was picked off, and he finished the quarter 1-of-6 for 14 yards, leading to a 0.0 passer rating and boos from his home fans.

He recovered in time, leading them back to beat the Dolphins.

“He got better as the game wore on, I thought his overall decision-making became more fluid, his accuracy became better,” Tomlin said. “A lot of it had to do with footwork, but more than anything I thought he settled down as he got into action.”

And he can do so knowing he doesn’t have to look over his shoulder.