The Steelers have reason to wait for Ben Roethlisberger to get well

Posted by Darin Gantt on October 15, 2015, 11:57 AM EDT
AP

The Steelers want to be careful with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, and make sure his knee injury is truly healed before they put him back on the field.

Part of that is basic human decency, and part of it is pragmatic — as he kind of stinks when he hurries himself back from injury.

According to Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen of ESPN (it’s nice when they share), Roethlisberger is 2-4 in his first game back after injuries, averaging 191 passing yards per game with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions.

So while it’s charming that he’s tough and gritty and wants to play, he’s clearly better when he feels better.

There seems to be little rush to put him back on the field against the Cardinals despite his presence on the practice field this week, and with Michael Vick playing acceptably well in Monday’s win over the Chargers, there’s not the desperation that exists in Dallas and other places where a bad backup can torpedo a season.

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27 responses to “The Steelers have reason to wait for Ben Roethlisberger to get well”

  1. You are assuming that his poor performance is due to him coming back before he’s completely healed, but there’s no evidence to suggest that. Maybe he’s just a little rusty after taking time off.

  2. What an absolutely stupid argument for not bring back one of the best QB’s in the league if he’s even remotely ready and the doctor’s have cleared him. Have you seen Vick play? Yeah, let’s not bring Ben back because we might lose that first game back. Goodness. Slow news day, I guess.

  4. Saying Vick is “playing acceptably well” is pretty generous. Take away the 70+ yard pass play to Wheaton and then look at his stats. Also, the stats don’t show that 3 of those incompletions were thrown into the hands of SD players and should have been INTs. We need Ben back whenever he is ready. Not a moment later.

  6. Ben is quite adept at moving just enough to make people miss as well as being strong enough to take couple of bumps w/o losing the ball or getting sacked.

    With a soft tire, he may not be so agile and that tiny bit is enough to make all the difference between a successful play and the end of a season, or worse, a career.

    How bad do you want to win THIS week?

  9. If Big Ben is not so good when he comes back from injury….he will not be good whenever he does come back…better sooner then later so his second start back….watch out

  10. He will be back by Week 8 to face the Bengals. They can’t afford for him not to play that game.

  11. Ben will not play this week, so this week will be a very tough game against a solid Cardinals team. He will start against the Bengals. The only question is whether he can play and shake off some rust against the Chiefs, who are playing worse than most pundits thought and just lost Charles for the year.

  13. Statistically Weeden has outperformed Vick in every category except Vicks 1-1 record and the few rushing yards Vick has. IMO, Dallas will regret the change they’re making. Weeden didn’t give up 158yds rushing and 3tds to Atlanta.

    Vick has just barely done enough to manage to hang in. Wipe away 1 bomb TD to Wheaton, and a 24yd rush at the end of the charger game and his stats are dismal and he’s 0-2. At the same time, if Tomlin didn’t make the bonehead coaching calls in the Ravens game, he might be 2-0. But that was more on the Defense keeping Flacco down than Vicks dominance in any facet of the game.

    GO STEELERS!!!!

  14. Vick playing acceptably well!!!! What the hell have they been watching? ??? He had one good play in two games!!! Are they friggin serious??? Who wrote this article, what a moron!!!!!!

  16. Keeping Ben out allows him and entire org to save face in upcoming loss to the Bengals, since they will lose either way.

  17. Dallas is chasing a currently undefeated team who is playing some of the best football in the league. Silly not to put him in asap.

  18. If anyone played acceptably well, it was the defense. I believe they have been a pleasant surprise and when you combo that with Ben and Bryants return along with Shazier, a playoff run is happening. Pitt still gets to play the Bengals twice. Turned out nice last year.

  19. Ben being “well” needs to be clearly defined – if there is even a small chance of him reinjurying the knee as a result of coming back too soon then forget it. he should not rush it, that would be foolish for him and the team

  21. The Steelers are 5-0 if Roethlisberger plays against Baltimore and Scobee doesn’t miss two easy FG’s against New England (plus Hey-Bey gifting back that TD right before the half). So I get the desire to get him back on the field ASAP. But the worst thing they can do is rush him back and risk losing him again down the line. Plus you’re facing red-hot Arizona who might be the best team in the league right now. Your choices are bad either way: Vick or a gimpy Ben. I’d take my shot with Vick and give the leg another week to heal.

  22. It’s charming that he’s tough and gritty? While I will agree that at times Ben will milk an injury, it is an injury nonetheless. And you tell me Darin, who take as many hits as he does with so few flags being thrown? I suppose having your nose broke, pushed back into place and continuing to play isn’t tough and gritty. I’d say the toughest thing you’ve ever done was a paper cut, but since you sit behind a keyboard making witty comments, perhaps you’ve had carpal tunnel, so maybe you truly are tough Darin. And I agree with the other posters, Vick is playing acceptably well?? You must be watching a different game than the rest of us. The steelers are handcuffed and forced to use 1/3 of the playbook, because teams are putting 8-10 men in the box, daring Vick to throw. Vick made exactly 3 plays against SD. A hail Mary TD, a scramble, where there wasn’t a defender within 10 yards, and a pass to Bey where Bey was flipped over backwards because the pass was so poor. Let’s also not forget the overthrown pass to Antonio brown last week in the last minute that would have been a first down and sealed the game.

  24. Mike Vick hasn’t lost any games for us ( no fumbles, or interceptions)
    He has managed the clock minimizing pre-snap penalty’s. He has only been on the for 7 weeks and is still getting familiar with the personnel groupings and of course the OC. Steeler fans ease up a bit on him, let our franchise QB heal up a bit more so we can be ready for the stretch run!

  25. I agree! Give the man time to heal, as a re-injured Ben, lost for the season, gives us nothing! I do believe Landry Jones is still around as well. Haha
    Vick does have to have a quicker release however, otherwise Cards will have a field day. Like the wildcat, though, finally gives us some different looks/options.

  27. It is for sure not to have Ben on the field yet, he should wait till he heels completely and when he’s at 100%, we’ve managed to win without him except for screwing up against the Ravens, none of the players were to blame except the kicker, and more so the bad calls by the coaches, we just beat the Cardinals very bad today after they were favorite by 7 points, 25-13 is a good beating, we should be able to beat the Chiefs next week without Ben, he should not play in that game unless it’s an emergency.

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