Ben Roethlisberger appeared to be less than welcoming to new Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph during a radio interview last week.

Roethlisberger told 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh he was surprised the Steelers used a third-round pick on Rudolph when they could have selected someone who would "help this team now."

Rudolph told NFL Network on Sunday he understood where Roethlisberger was coming from with his comments and said there are no hard feelings.

"If I was Ben, I'd probably say the same thing," the rookie said on "Path To The Draft." "He's a competitor. Obviously, he has a lot of confidence in himself, like I do. And, yeah, he's going to be a future Hall of Famer, and I would expect him to say that. So I'm just looking forward to going in there and learning the system, competing, raising my level of play, preparing like I'm the starter even though obviously I won't be the starter and just waiting and being prepared for whenever I get my time. Whenever my time comes, to be ready and take advantage of it."

Steelers’ general manager Kevin Colbert called Rudolph a first-round talent after moving up three spots to select the Oklahoma State product. 

Roethlisberger, 36, contemplated retirement last off-season, but told the team this year he plans to play for another three to five seasons.

"I was surprised when they took a quarterback because I thought that maybe in the third round, you know, you can get some really good football players that can help this team now," Roethlisberger said on Friday. "Nothing against Mason – I think he's a great football player. I don't know him personally, but I'm sure he's a great kid. I just don't know how backing up or being a third-[stringer] – well, who knows where he's going to fall on the depth chart – helps us win now. But, you know, that's not my decision to make. That's on the coaches and the GM and the owner and those kind of things. If they think he can help our team, so be it, but I was a little surprised."

Rudolph, selected No. 76 overall in this year's draft, was the sixth quarterback selected, following the five who were picked in Round 1.