When Ben Roethlisberger went down with an elbow injury just six quarters into the 2019 season, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged that the rapport he had with the backup quarterback may likely prove favorable to second-year wide receiver James Washington in terms of the opportunities for playing time.
He was talking about Mason Rudolph at the time, of course, but it’s proving to apply equally well, if not more so, to the man who replaced Rudolph, Devlin Hodges. The former and Washington were four-year college teammates and now in their second season together in Pittsburgh.