Ben Roethlisberger: “We still control our destiny but it’s not going to get any easier”

by Joe Kuzma (joe_kuzma) on December 13, 2018

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger held a press conference following practice Wednesday. Here’s a breakdown of of the franchise QB’s comments about how his team is performing and preparing this season.

How are the ribs?

Fine, feeling good.

Ready to go?

Yes sir.

Is there any sense of panic on your end? Do you realize what’s at stake?

I think that is a better way to put it, what’s at stake, not panic. We still control our destiny but it’s not going to get any easier.

Are you surprised the sense of urgency hasn’t led to victories?

Well we’ve had opportunities. We’ve just for whatever reason haven’t found a way to do it. I don’t think it’s from a lack of sense of urgency I just think it could be a lack of execution, one thing here or there, so we understand what it takes to get it done and we just have to do it.

How frustrating is it to be in this position with so many gams that have gotten away?

Very frustrating. You want to win them all, but you understand that you can’t, so we can only control this week.

Is it frustrating thinking about the past with Patriots and not beating them?

Well it’s frustrating when you can’t beat anybody. If you can’t beat the Raiders at Oakland, the Patriots are one of the best teams for a reason. We are not the only team that has issues with them. They are that good. So, the past is the past, so we can only focus on this week.

What can you learn from the past three games?

Just that every season is different, every team is different. That’s both us and the teams we are playing so just take every game one at a time and not look forward and not back and give it our all this week.

Are there some parallels to the 2005 season?

Is that the one where struggled and had to win in the end and got the sixth seed? That was special one. Again, that’s a different year as well.

Do you need a running game for this offense to be successful and what’s been wrong?

One thing you have to understand from the outside world, you look at a run and pass, a lot of people are runners when you hand the ball to the running back, we look at our short screens, some of our short passes as run game alternative. So, I think those numbers get a little skewed sometimes when you look at kind of what technically is a run and what technically is a pass. So, we need to have efficient plays regardless of what they are.

Will you take off Wednesday as usual?

No different, just probably normal Wednesday for me.

Do you have to wear anything protective this week as far as rib protection?

I am going to wear a helmet, shoulder pads, thigh pads, knee pads, and some cleats.

Nothing extra then?

We’ll have to wait and see. You’ll be the first one to know though.

What’s your experience with bruised ribs, how long does it take?

I think every situation is different. They are not fun to deal with, at times they wake you up in your sleep. It is what it is, you go out and play football. Everyone in here is banged up not just me.

Do you think this will be a high scoring offense with your offense and their offense, their defense looks vulnerable?

I haven’t seen that vulnerability yet and I’ve been watching a lot of film. I think they are a good defense that gets after you. They make a quarterback’s day frustrating because they are bringing pressure, they are throwing some unique looks that we’ve been watching on film. So, got a long way to go before we start evaluating where they are good and where they are not. We know they are an all-around good football team.

What did you notice on film, how do they affect the quarterback?

I think pressure. I think they are just smart football players. They do not panic when the ball is in the air. I feel like that’s always been one of their MO’s. Sometimes you get DB’s when a ball is in the air, they kind of just panic, and either get a PI or try and bat the ball down. I feel like when the ball is in the air they try to find it and that’s special.

How many times did you re-live this game in the offseason?

Not a lot. You have to be able to put things behind you and move on. You have training camp and they made a rule off of that game, so you hear about it a lot then. Obviously for this week it gets brought up but for the most part you have to move on.

Where do you think the mindset is coming off of the loss and the team’s confidence?

I don’t think confidence, there isn’t a loss in it, an understanding of what we need to do, face adversity in the face and just kind of getting ready for maybe one of the biggest challenges we had all year.

Do you savor these moments to play the Patriots and Tom Brady?

Anytime you can share the field with maybe the greatest of all-time you should cherish it and value, and you try to outplay them. It’s not any easy task and like you said, I don’t go against him [Tom Brady] but it’s a neat thing to play against one of the best of all time.

What’s the biggest thing you’ve seen from a longevity standpoint from Tom Brady?

Avocado ice-cream isn’t that what it is or something? (jokingly0 No, I mean he works hard. He understands football, he understands offense, defense, he’s incredibly smart and I know people laugh at his running or catching abilities but he’s an incredible talented athlete when it comes to his arm. And some of the things he can do throwing while he’s falling, arm angles, and things like that so especially for an older guy he does pretty good.

How did James Washington do?

Awesome. I really think he made some plays for us. I think there are a couple things I think when we watched on film he would even say he could probably improve on but we all have those moments. We just graded ourselves and there were a lot of minuses on my sheet but I thought he answered the challenge. Especially that last play what he had to do make it was pretty cool.

What does it mean to do you when Bill Belichick says you do not get enough credit for your toughness and hanging in the pocket to make plays?

Once again talking about one of the greatest of all-time. That’s going to be him, too, so that’s a heck of a compliment from him and means a lot.

Mike Tomlin’s time management, how much influence do you have?

I’m on the other end of the field, it’s not like I am standing by coach. If I am on the field I can control timeouts but I was kind of interested watching the time, watching the timeouts, seeing what he was going to do so definitely interesting because you always want as much time as you can but timeouts are important too.

Are they that important, the one he talked about in the middle of the field?

It’s pretty important. Once again, I am not a coach in the sense of understanding exactly, everyone has a different philosophy on it of would they rather have timeouts or time. I’ve spent time talking with some of our offensive coaches in the preseason about that. If we are driving down the field and we are on the nine-yard line, we have a timeout and we get a big play would you rather save the timeout or save the time, just to like coach [Mike] Munchak, guys who have been in it so everyone has a different philosophy on it and coach has his.

Do you get the sense these matchups are like division games?

Yea it’s always a big game. They are the best for a reason and everyone wants to go after them so they’re fun, they’re physical, very big challenges for us. I don’t think It’s been a big challenge for them but for us it has been.

Fan frustration, Rocky Bleier’s comments about the team

We want to win for the fans, we want to win for each other, the fans all over the world because we have the best fans in the world. You saw it in Oakland, all those Steeler fans that were there, we want to win for them. So, when former players come out that have paved the way for us they are entitled to say what they want. There is nothing wrong with that but as a family, we consider Rocky [Bleier] family so we would hope he wouldn’t say those things, but he’s obviously entitled to it. We understand where the frustration comes from.