Ben Roethlisberger believes his right arm feels as good as it has in years.
The same goes for the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback's body
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If the scariest moment Roethlisberger endures all season is the accidental blindside hit from right tackle Marcus Gilbert ??who inadvertently knocked the
wind out of Roethlisberger during practice last week, sending a brief scare
through the organization and sending Roethlisberger into the concussion protocol
as a precaution ??the franchise's all-time leader in nearly every significant
passing category will take it.
"Hopefully, the hardest hit I take all year is from Gilbert and we can laugh at it at the end of the year," Roethlisberger said with a laugh on Tuesday.
Maybe, but nobody was laughing when Roethlisberger's familiar No. 7 was kneeling on the turf at Saint Vincent College. He took a pair of concussion
tests and passed them both, clearing him to make his lone preseason appearance
on Sunday when the Steelers host Tennessee.
It's been more than eight months since Roethlisberger last faced guys in different-colored uniforms, when he threw for a franchise playoff-record 469
yards and five touchdowns in a playoff loss to Jacksonville.
Until the 2017 offseason ??when he waited weeks before announcing his return ??Roethlisberger said right away he would be back in 2018, an endorsement of
both the coaching staff and the talent surrounding him in the huddle.
Saturday will be the first time Roethlisberger will be hearing Randy Fichtner's voice in his headset during a game. The Steelers promoted the
longtime quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator in January.
Though the low-key Fichtner carries himself differently than his predecessor ??the fiery Todd Haley ??Roethlisberger expects the offense to "pretty much stay
the same."
That's hardly a bad thing for a group that finished third in total yards while going 13-3 in 2017. The key to earning a fifth straight playoff berth will
be turning all those yards into a few more points.
Pittsburgh was eighth in the league in average points per game (25.4) due in part to some red zone issues. The Steelers finished a middling 18th in turning
red-zone possessions into touchdowns (53 percent).
Pittsburgh drafted former Oklahoma State star wide receiver James Washington in the second round
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It's something they'd like to see more of this fall in general, including from second-year wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster. He wowed at times during his
rookie season. Now comes the hard part as the firmly established No. 2 alongside
All-Pro Antonio Brown: doing it again.
"The key for him is how can he bounce back and not just put together a good year like last year but be better," Roethlisberger said. "It starts with work
and he put in a lot work, effort and time. I am looking forward to what he can
do this year."
Roethlisberger isn't quite sure how long he'll get a chance to be on the field with Smith-Schuster and the rest of the starting offense this weekend. A
couple of scoring drives early would likely make Roethlisberger's appearance a
mere cameo.
A slow start might result in a bit of a longer stay. Regardless of how he feels, he still expects there to be some issues adjusting to game speed even
entering his 15th season.
"It's live action," Roethlisberger said. "We have been at practice and everything gets a little faster, a little quicker. I hope I don't get hit, but
it's always good to knock that rust off
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NOTES: WR Eli Rogers was suspended for one week by the NFL for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Rogers is on the physically unable to perform
list while recovering from a torn ACL. Rogers is not expected to be ready by the
opening week of the season.
The Buccaneers have reported to training camp, and the face of the franchise didn’t show his face when the time came to speak to the media.
As explained by Rick Stroud of the
Tampa Bay Times, quarterback Jameis Winston wasn’t made available to reporters on Wednesday. Which meant that
the players who were made available were made to answer questions about Jameis
Winston. Which made for, as Stroud put it, a “clunky, awkward and uncomfortable”
launch of training camp.
Linebacker Lavonte David, one of three players who spoke
Corey Linsley Jersey , called Winston’s alleged/actual groping of an Uber driver in March 2016 a “silly mistake.”
“He knows it, we all know it,” David told reporters. “He knows we’ve got his back and he’s going to learn from it because from whenever it happened until
now, he’s matured a lot. Jameis is a guy who is all about his business. He’s
going to come to work, do what’s right. He’s going to have your back and we’re
going to have his back. All he can do is keep his spirits up and we’ll hold it
down until he gets back.”
Said receiver Mike Evans, “I mean I don’t know the whole situation and nobody does but the people that were there so I don’t speak too much on that.”
The one guy who knows the “whole situation” is Winston. But Winston was nowhere to be seen. And so players like David, Evans, and Ali Marpet had to
explain for Winston’s behavior. Which is hardly an ideal way to start the
season.
Meanwhile
John Miller Jersey , coach Dirk Koetter also didn’t speak to reporters. As Stroud notes, Koetter usually talks to the media after the first training-camp
practice. Given these unusual circumstances, however, it would have made sense
for Koetter to go first, to address all questions, and to help take some of the
heat away from the players who surely were wondering why they and not Winston
were expected to talk about Winston.
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