The Pittsburgh Steelers recently retired quarterback released his eighth installment of Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger on YouTube page, Channel Seven. The weekly podcast is becoming a staple for Steelers fans on Monday night when Ben Roethlisberger shares stories, greets guests and waxes poetic on the current state of the black and gold. He was only joined by his co-host, Spencer T’eo during the shortest episode to date, but they spent nearly half the podcast discussing the Steelers 20-18 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Jared Wickerham / Pittsburgh Steelers
Roethlisberger has developed a relationship with Kenny Pickett and the two apparently talk via text message quite a bit. The future Hall of Famer has been cagey about the specifics of the relationship, but based on what has been revealed thus far, he just seems to be making himself available for whatever questions that Pickett wants to ask him. The advantage of being retired for Roethlisberger is that he can mentor at a comfortable pace, because they are not directly competing for the same job.
“Pittsburgh takes the opening drive and goes down the field,” Roethlisberger begins. “That was awesome, that’s what you want. It was a really good solid drive. I thought Kenny had a great drive. Congratulations to Kenny, because that was his first NFL [passing] touchdown. Then it kind of went a little stagnant.”
Abigail Dean / Pittsburgh Steelers
Multiple Steelers offensive series were met with boos on Sunday. The fans are not ready to forgive Matt Canada after one good drive, and a Steelers victory only mildly muted the calls for his job. The Steelers got a huge kickoff return from Steven Sims to start the second half, but could not take advantage by punching it into the end zone. After three failed attempts to score in the red zone, the Steelers settled for a short Chris Boswell field goal that was soundly booed. The fact that Tom Brady and the Buccaneers quickly answered on the next possession to make the scored 13-12 halfway through the third quarter did nothing to quell the growing tension inside Acrisure Stadium.
Abigail Dean / Pittsburgh Steelers
The next offensive play from scrimmage was a disaster for the Steelers. Pickett was under heavy pressure and was crushed on the throw which hung in the air forever as it headed down the field. Impossibly, Diontae Johnson flew back to the floating duck and caught if for a 27-yard gain. The gain was quickly wiped out however by a holding penalty by Kevin Dotson, but worse than that, Pickett laid flat on his back, and he was not getting up.
“I saw him get hit and I thought the guy could have done a lot more damage,” Roethlisberger continued. “So, I applaud him for not driving him into the ground. Then I saw the replay and his head hit the ground, I thought it’s gotta be the concussion. That neck whip is what gets you every time. He went right in the locker room, and I don’t think he ever came out. I hope he’s okay.”
Quarterback safety and especially concussion protocol is under a spotlight right now in the NFL. After the Tua Tagovailoa fiasco, it is highly likely that quarterbacks could be held out for longer periods before returning to the field. The NFL is exercising tremendous caution after taking extensive heat for allowing the Dolphins quarterback to return to the field too soon and then just four days later, the gruesome scene when he sustained what was looked like a second concussion within the week.
“It will be interesting to see what that looks like,” Roethlisberger said. “They are going down to Miami which has been dealing with their quarterback and concussions. Because he didn’t come back out on the field, it is going to be interesting to see if he goes this week. He’s a pretty tough kid. Mitch [Trubisky] saved the day recovering that fumble. I don’t think Mitch is under the delusion he is going to win the job back. If Kenny is cleared to play this week, Kenny is starting. Even if he [Kenny] plays bad for a few weeks in a row.”
Abigail Dean / Pittsburgh Steelers
Mitch Trubisky is putting himself in position to be the best backup quarterback in football. The Kenny Pickett era has arrived in Pittsburgh and Trubisky is a good enough teammate to recognize it. Unlike other former high draft picks, who made it impossible for teams to bring them in without stirring controversy, Trubisky has worked hard to not undermine Mike Tomlin and Pickett. Especially with the news broken by Gerry Dulac on Monday that he was potentially benched because of an argument with his star wideout, Johnson.
It is a credit to the former second overall pick that the information did not only come from him, but it took two weeks to find the light of day. Roethlisberger confirmed that he is convinced the Steelers found the future in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft, but if they also found a competent backup for him like Charlie Batch was for Roethlisberger, than the QB rebuild went even better than expected.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Is a Pickett/Trubisky quarterback room for the next decade a recipe for success? Please comment below, or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
