After taking a week off, the Pittsburgh Steelers are back at practice this week as they prepare for their Week 8 matchup against the Cleveland Browns. As he does every Wednesday, Ben Roethlisberger took some time with the media today before practice.
Compared to the Roethlisberger we saw in weeks 2 through 4, this was a much “happier” Roethlisberger and looked refreshed and ready to go. When asked about how he used the bye week, Roethlisberger explained:
“You can take it [the bye week] as a time to look back or has a time to just get away and clear your mind. I think as an older guy with family and stuff, it’s much easier to just take the time to get away and spend time with them and kind of clear your mind and get ready for this stretch we have coming up. That’s what I did, but everyone is different.”
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Keeping the body healthy is also a key part in a bye week. With a laundry list of injuries after the first several weeks, this year’s off week seemed to be a timely one. Roethlisberger has been dealing with injuries of his own and was asked about the timing of this year’s bye week:
“Yea, very. It was very nice to have some time to rest, relax, and get it [health] back.”
Roethlisberger went onto specify that it has been mostly his hip and shoulder that he’s been working on healing.
After starting 1-3 the first 4 weeks, the Steelers bounced back to win their last 2 games before the bye week. Obviously, this is the right momentum to ride into time off and what teams like to build on week after week. Roethlisberger was asked about the progress that the offense has made and the steps the offense is taking each week to improve. He explained:
“Well, we won the last 2 so that’s always important. I feel like we’ve gotten a little bit better each week, but each week also brings new opportunities and new challenges. The challenge this week is a really good defense. You can look at the offensive side of the ball with how they run it, but we’re going against a defense that’s really, really good. So that is going to bring a whole new challenge. It’s kind of those games where it doesn’t matter what the stats are, you just got to win the football game really.”
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I don’t need to remind you of what transpired when these teams last met. With that said however, that seems to be a common question the players are being asked heading into the game prep this week. When asked if there was any underlying motivation that stemmed from their last game against the Browns and if it played a part in his decision to return this season, Roethlisberger replied:
“You never like to lose a game an end and the year. I wouldn’t say they’re [the Browns] are the reason I came back.” Roethlisberger went onto say, “As a competitor, you use lots of things to motivate you to go out and play. I’m not sure that’s my leading factor this week.”
Roethlisberger concluded his press conference by highlighting the stout Cleveland defense, specifically defensive end, Myles Garrett:
"He's the man," he proclaimed. "There's no doubt about it, he's one of the best in the NFL at what he does. But the additions that they have, from the d-line to secondary.”
When asked about the challenges the Browns defense poses against them, Roethlisberger explained:
"They don't try and complicate or confuse you. They're just like ‘we're just better than you we're going to line up and beat you and show you that we can do that’. So that's where the challenge is going to come.”
There is no doubt the Steelers have a tough game looming in Cleveland this Sunday.
What are you looking for in practice this week? What do you think they need to prepare for against the Browns? Let us know in the comments below!
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