Steelers Blog

Inside The Locker Room: Ben Roethlisberger

The Steelers were back on the practice field on Monday after four days off due to the bye week. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger talked to the media in the locker room following practice.

Re: Mentality for getting ready to face Philadelphia coming off of the bye week:
Today was kind of a bonus day. It doesn’t feel like a real week of practice yet. Once Wednesday comes around, it will feel real.

Re: S Troy Polamalu and LB James Harrison returning to practice:
Well the last practice I participated in last week, they were both out there. Everyone was out there. So, it looked normal to me.

Do you think either player will be able to play Sunday?
I have no clue. If Coach Tomlin was here we could ask him. Honestly, I have no clue. Sorry.

Re: Bruce Arians taking over the Colts as interim head coach:
I heard about that today but haven’t had a chance to talk to B.A. I’ll probably give him a call on the way home. The biggest thing is our thoughts and prayers are with Coach Pagano and his family and everything that he’s going through. Hopefully, he can get healthy and get back at it and I know that B.A. will do a great job of filling in for him.

Do you anticipate many games being decided on the final drive?
Potentially. You hope not. You hope that you can blow someone out and not have to worry about the last drive. I need to be better on the last drive. I take pride in fourth quarter comebacks and drives. I just need to be better and be ready for them.

Re: C Maurkice Pouncey:
He’s the best center in the game. He’s a Pro Bowler for a reason. I’m blessed to have him.

Re: Needing a win against Philadelphia since Cincinnati and Baltimore both have three wins:
Absolutely. There’s no panic in here. It’s still a marathon but we need to get a win. We’re playing a very good team coming in here. We’re glad to be back at home and we’ll see what we can do.

Did you see the Eagles play last night?
I did. I watched a little bit of it and then I went to bed.

Re: The Eagles’ defense:
It’s very good. We got to see a little bit of it in the preseason but they’re high-motor, rush guys that we’re going to have to focus on.

Re: The offense being more productive at home:
It’s nice being able to use the cadence at home and being able to slow down rushers, hopefully. It’s just easier to communicate. We’ll be able to use the field to our advantage and the fans. We enjoy being at home and we’ll try to take advantage of that.