The Pittsburgh Steelers will start Devlin Hodges at quarterback for their Week 13 game against the Cleveland Browns.

Hodges replaced Mason Rudolph at quarterback in Week 12.

Hodges was signed by the Steelers after going underrated out of Samford.

The Pittsburgh Steelers benched Mason Rudolph for poor play during their 16-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.

The quarterback completed just 8-of-16 pass attempts for 85 yards and ended the Steelers' second drive with an interception in the red zone.

Mike Tomlin gave Rudolph one drive into the second half to get things righted, but Rudolph took a sack and underthrew a wobbly pass to seal his fate. Devlin Hodges was under center on Pittsburgh's next drive.

"Just felt like our offense needed a spark," Tomlin said. "Mason wasn't doing enough; Duck came in and provided us with a spark, made a couple plays. We'll see what next week holds, next week. But I like the contributions of Duck; I like his readiness; I appreciate the efforts of Mason and also appreciate the support of Mason after we made the change."

Tomlin declined to disclose the quarterback plan going forward.

The indefinite suspension of Myles Garrett has been upheld in appeal.

Appeals officers Derrick Brooks and James Thrash made the ruling.

Garrett alleged in his hearing that Mason Rudolph used a racial slur against him before the brawl.

Myles Garrett alleges Mason Rudolph directed a racial slur at him just before last week's brawl.

"Mason vehemently denies the report of being accused of using a racial slur during the incident Thursday night in Cleveland," Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten said in a statement. "He will not discuss this accusation any further and his focus remains on preparation for Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals."

Rudolph told reporters on Wednesday he didn't say anything to provoke Garrett or escalate the situation.

Garrett made the allegation as part of his initial comments during the appeal hearing in New York.

Garrett was suspended indefinitely for ripping off and swinging Rudolph's helmet and then hitting the quarterback in the head with it.

According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the NFL looked into the allegation and found no evidence to support those claims.

Mason Rudolph apologized for his actions in last week's brawl with the Cleveland Browns.

Rudolph read a prepared statement.

"I should've done a better job handling that situation," Rudolph said. "I have no ill will towards Myles Garrett. Great respect for his ability as a player. And I know that if Myles could go back, he would handle the situation differently.

"As for my involvement last week, there's no acceptable excuse. The bottom line is I should've done a better job keeping my composure in that situation and [not] fall short of what I believe it means to be a Pittsburgh Steeler and a member of the NFL."

Rudolph's conciliatory tone Wednesday was a departure from last week's defiant postgame news conference, where he called Garrett's actions "bush league" and "cowardly."

Video from the incident shows Rudolph attempting to dislodge Garrett's helmet.

"Like I said, the way he took me down late, it was basically the last play of the game, I was just trying to get him off from on top of me," he said.

Mike Tomlin opened Tuesday's press conference by accepting responsibility for his team's role in Thursday night's melee with the Cleveland Browns.

"It was ugly," Tomlin said. "It was ugly for the game of football. I think all of us that are involved in the game, particularly at this level, want to safeguard and protect the game, its integrity. And in that instance, it was compromised, obviously, with an unfortunate incident.

"None of us want those incidents to transpire. It did. We were a part of it. We accept responsibility for our actions within it."

Tomlin also rebuffed the idea that the game-ending fight could be used as a teachable moment for his team.

Myles Garrett has been suspended indefinitely by the NFL with a minimum of at least the remainder of this regular season and playoffs.

Garrett ripped the helmet off Mason Rudolph and struck him in the head with it. 

The fight began when Rudolph was dragged to the ground by Garrett after throwing a pass. Rudolph appeared to discoed Garrett's helmet while both were on the ground.

"What I did was foolish, and I shouldn't allow myself to slip like that," Garrett said. "That's out of character, but a situation like that where it's an emotional game, and I allowed myself to fall into those emotions with what happened."

Myles Garrett was one of three players ejected following a skirmish in the final seconds of Thursday night's Pittsburgh Steelers-Cleveland Browns game.

Garrett ripped Mason Rudolph's helmet off and struck him in the head with it.

The fight began when Rudolph dumped a pass to Trey Edmunds and was dragged to the ground by Garrett. Rudolph appeared to try to dislodge Garrett's helmet while they were on the ground. Garrett ripped off Rudolph's helmet once they stood up and took a swing with it, connecting on the top of Rudolph's helmetless head.

Maurkice Pouncey jumped into Garrett and punched and kicked him as Steelers teammate David DeCastro pinned Garrett to the ground.

"I've never seen that in my life," Freddie Kitchens said. "It's not good."

Jalen Ramsey talked trash to JuJu Smith-Schuster prior to Sunday's Pittsburgh Steelers-Los Angeles Rams game, telling the wide receiver that he'll never be like former teammate Antonio Brown.

"No disrespect to him, he's not Antonio Brown," Ramsey said. "I matched up with Antonio there for two years, and that was a good battle, and I held my own in those battles, and yeah, now I'm going up against a different person, different body type, different receiver a little bit. He can make plays."

After the Steelers defeated the Rams 17-12, Smith-Schuster agreed.

"He's right, though," Smith-Schuster said. "I'm not Antonio Brown. I'll never be Antonio Brown. I am myself. I'm JuJu Smith-Schuster. I'm not as good as him yet. I think I still have time to proceed to get to his level. But we're two totally different persons."

Either guarded by Ramsey to doubled, the wide receiver was held to three catches on six targets for 44 yards.

"He talks a lot," Smith-Schuster said of Ramsey. "He talks so much. He said so many cuss words I've never heard of, and I'm 22 years old. He's a good player, man."

JuJu Smith-Schuster is on pace for just 66 catches and 918 yards this season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver has been held under 20 yards receiving in three games.

Ben Roethlisberger has been out since Week 2 with an elbow injury, but Mike Tomlin isn't looking at Smith-Schuster solely based on stats.

"I have no issues with how he has handled himself in some of those matchups," Tomlin said. "Statistics might not tell the story because of a lot of things going on around him. I like his work. I like his professionalism. I like how he wins his one-on-ones. Hopefully, it's a catalyst for us getting more traction and consistently moving the ball offensively."