PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger has a message for everyone: Even after back-to-back losses, the Steelers aren’t panicking — and neither should anyone else.
“The season is not over,” Roethlisberger said Wednesday. “I want everyone out there to just take a deep breath. I know it’s kind of crazy right now. I just want everyone to take a deep breath. We’ve got time. That’s my mindset too.”
The Steelers (11-2) are reeling after falling in consecutive games to end their unbeaten start, but they did clinch their first playoff berth since 2017 with the Miami Dolphins‘ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
With that weight lifted, Roethlisberger said the Steelers can use the next three games, beginning with Monday night’s AFC North matchup at Cincinnati, to get out of the rut that knocked them off course from their strong start.
“We have guaranteed ourselves a chance at the playoffs. We’re in the postseason. We have three weeks now to get it going, to turn it around, to give ourselves the best chance to reach our ultimate goal, which is winning a Super Bowl,” Roethlisberger said. “If we were starting the postseason tomorrow, maybe there would be a little bit more panic on our part.
“… We still have some work to do, to kind of get ourselves out of this lull that we’re in because, like you say, every team has them. It just so happens that ours is happening right now. It’s not too late for us.”
Defensive tackle Cam Heyward echoed Roethlisberger’s emphasis on focusing on the current slate of games rather than looking ahead to the postseason.
“I think we’ve got to pump the brakes on the playoffs,” Heyward said. “We’ve got to take care of our business one game at a time. I think too much we’ve talked about, ‘We need to do this to go to the playoffs, we need to do that.’ Man, we just need to win a game. We’ll focus on this game and then focus on the next one after that. We’ve got to quit getting in this rhythm of it, ‘It’s setting up this or setting up that.’ We’ve got to get back to playing our football, understanding what we need to do and do it 110%.”
Roethlisberger also suggested it wasn’t too late for him to play his best football. He said that his surgically repaired elbow “feels really good” and that he and the team continue to monitor its progress.
“We haven’t put together a long body of work since we’ve had the surgery, but right now my arm feels really good. It’s more about the rest of the body,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s kind of a week-by-week thing. The accumulation, the toll of the hits, of pounding, of grinding, of being 38 years old, kind of add up, and it’s just smart, especially with this weird season, with how many games we’ve played in a row plus not really having a bye when we’re supposed to.”
Roethlisberger also strongly rebutted a report that the Steelers were concerned about him having significant knee issues. While he had some pain after landing on the knee against Washington, Roethlisberger said there are no immediate concerns.
“Other than just an old knee and arthritis, my knee actually feels really good this week, especially after playing on an artificial surface,” he said. “Typically, that is another issue that makes it kind of ache. After last week, it feels pretty good.”
After Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills, Roethlisberger, who threw two interceptions, said that if he is not playing up to par, he should “hang it up.” He said Wednesday that he wasn’t going to retire in the middle of the season but acknowledged he is not going to extend his playing career if he doesn’t feel as if he is performing at his highest level.
“I never want to hurt the team,” Roethlisberger said. “I’m not going to be that guy that plays past his ability. If I feel like I can’t be out there and I’m not doing it at a high level, I’m not giving my team the best chance to win, then I’m going to hang it up. Obviously, some of that is just frustration from the game, but I will always go home every week and evaluate the way that I played, the way that I feel, pray heavily over it. I feel like when the time is right, I’ll know it.
“So I’m going to go out there this week and give it everything I have to get this team back on track, because I feel it is a special team.”
Source : ESPN
