Steelers Blog

Inside The Locker Room: Ben Roethlisberger

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger talked during open locker room on Wednesday about the Jets defense, Darrelle Revis, the no-huddle and more.

How much do you have to pay attention to Jets CB Darrelle Revis when he’s on the field?
He’s a good player so you have to know where he’s at and what he’s doing.

Do you enjoy playing against elite cornerbacks like Revis?
You like a challenge. He’s one of the best to play the game at that position. We faced one last week in Champ Bailey and this is the same way.

Would you rather Revis sit out of this week’s game with a concussion?
No. It’s fun to challenge yourself and have the best out there. To be the best, you have to go against the best.

Does Revis change what you do as an offense?
No. It just makes you aware of where he is.

How would you evaluate the offense’s performance against Denver?
I thought we did pretty well on offense. We obviously had some negative plays but I thought we had a chance to win the game. We played well enough if I didn’t make a mistake at the end of the game.

Re: Having more freedom calling plays in the no-huddle:
A lot of those runs, even though we were in the no-huddle at the end of the first half and most of the second half, I was calling a lot of those runs. I think people need to realize that just because we’re in the no-huddle and we’re calling the plays doesn’t mean I’m calling all passes. We broke it down between runs and passes and it was pretty balanced. As a quarterback, you just want to call the best play, run or pass.

Re: Why the team ran three receiver sets so many times against Denver:
Our no-huddle is three wide receivers. So, any time you saw three wide receivers, we were probably in no-huddle mentality or formation. That’s probably why that was like that.

Re: The plays you have to choose from in the no-huddle:
Our no-huddle playbook is wide open. Any no-huddle play is available.

Would you like to run the no-huddle most of the time?
I think you have to have a good balance. There’s times that there are plays that are not in the no-huddle that have to run. Whether it’s certain play-action plays, short yardage plays, or trick plays, things like that. I think we’re good when we do it so I think we could have a good balance of doing it.

Does it interfere with you calling the plays when the coaches talk to you during the no-huddle?
Sometimes it’s difficult. Any of you guys that are in the media that have the producer in your ear while you’re trying to talk know that it makes it a little difficult at times. It’s just something that you have to get used to. As long as it doesn’t happen all the time, it’s not too tricky.

Re: Getting the ball snapped with more time left on the play clock:
No one is [letting the play clock run down] on purpose. It’s just the way things work. Sometimes you have to wait to the last minute to get a play called. But there’s not really any particular time on when you have to snap the ball.

Re: Being sacked five times against Denver:
Yes, but on the last three they were pinning their ears and dropping everybody. It’s really two sacks that they got. That’s what I count. Sometimes they hurt. Sometimes they don’t.

Is there a sense of urgency to avoid a 0-2 start?
The Super Bowl was not won or lost last week and probably isn’t won or lost this week. It makes it a little bit harder with every loss but we’re just going to come out, play good football, and keep trying to get better.

Re: Running a “dink and dunk” offense:
We know that we need to possess the ball and keep certain offenses off the field as much as we can. I thought we did a great job of doing that the other night. We had a couple high-teen play drives. I think we had a 19-play drive and ones like that. They did a good job of taking away big plays. This offense and the players we’ve got have big play potential. We need to keep utilizing that and trying to do the best we can to get those opportunities and connect when we do call them.

Do you think other teams feel that they need to keep the Steelers offense off the field?
I don’t know. You’d better ask them.

How tough would it be to play in a two-quarterback system like the Jets sometimes use?
It’s got to be tough. I feel bad for [Sanchez]. Obviously, they blew out Buffalo so it wasn’t as big of a deal but I know it wasn’t easy. During the game last week, Tebow came in and lost two yards and then Sanchez came back in and the commentator said, “Hey Tim, thanks for losing me two yards.” It’s got to be hard because as a quarterback you want to stay in a groove but the Jets always do some unconventional things.

Re: TE Heath Miller’s role against Denver:
Heath is a weapon and we have to use him. It was mostly just that he was open. They were taking away the outside and over the top and leaving the underneath and middle stuff open.

Could RB Jonathan Dwyer handle a high number of carries each game?
If he can stay healthy. I think we have a lot of backs that could be that guy. We have to make sure we keep utilizing them and staying healthy.

Re: The Jets’ defensive backfield:
I think Revis gets a lot of the talk and deservedly so. He’s one of the best. But, I think it’s unfair to the rest of that secondary, especially Antonio Cromartie. He’s a great, long DB and ball hawker that makes plays. I don’t know if he gets the credit that he is due. A lot of it is because of “Revis Island” and all of the stuff they say and it deserved. Their whole secondary is very good.