Last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers got a few doses of what it was like to play without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. And it wasn’t pretty.
For Pittsburgh’s offense to perform at its best, Roethlisberger needs to stay healthy. This would mean that Big Ben needs to avoid unnecessarily putting his body at risk.
Though, contrary to logic, Roethlisberger has no plans on changing the style for which he plays.
“Any time you’re not on the field, you’re hurting yourself and your team. But the hard part about that is, I play the game one way. I’ve played it that way for 13 years now and I don’t know any other way to play it. So I’ll do everything I can to stay on the field but to play the game the way I know how, said Roethlisberger per Mark Maske of The Washington Post.”
Roethlisberger is one of the largest quarterbacks in the league which makes him hard to take down.
However, the 6-foot-5, 240 pounder often loses when two or more defenders take him on or has defenders go low to take him down. Last year, the a knee injury inflicted on him due to one such big hit was bad enough to keep him sidelined in four entire games.
It was the most games Roethlisberger had missed since the 2010 season. With the Steelers almost certainly missing Le’Veon Bell for the first four games and Martavis Bryant serving a season-long suspension, the team cannot afford for Roethlisberger to miss time.
Roethlisberger said he relies on his 12 years of experience in the NFL and knowing his offense to avoid injuries. He also said that none of his Steelers coaches have ever tried to change his “playing style.”
Overall, Roethlisberger has been somewhat durable and has started 169 of 192 NFL games. He is a four-time Pro-Bowler and two-time Super Bowl champion.
Hopefully, Roethlisberger’s health will hold up. He will be 37 when his contract comes to an end in 2019. Another Super Bowl visit before Roethlisberger eventually retires is obviously the goal for the team, if not two or more.