Ben Roethlisberger is readying for his regular season debut, and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says his quarterback has already provided an energy boost in practice to the team.
“He always does because he’s a ridiculous competitor,” Tomlin said Tuesday at his weekly press conference via Scout.com. “When he has an opportunity to compete, you feel him in the room, or in the stadium. It’s one of the interesting attributes about him as a player and a person. When faced with adversity, when given an opportunity to compete, man he does. I think guys feed off of that.”
Roethlisberger is expected to face Colt McCoy of the Browns in a rather unfortunate quarterback matchup for Cleveland. Coming off a bye, the Steelers are as healthy as any team in the league. Only offensive lineman Trai Essex is questionable for the game.
There are a few hanging questions with the Steelers roster. Tomlin interestingly wouldn’t commit to Charlie Batch over Byron Leftwich as the team’s backup quarterback.
“We haven’t decided on that at this juncture, just like we haven’t decided who’s going to return punts and kicks for that matter.”