Steelers

Roethlisberger full speed ahead on return

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Ben Roethlisberger (7) throws a pass on the run at Steelers training camp at Heinz Field -- STEELERS

Ben Roethlisberger is passing all the tests when it comes to his recovery and return from tearing three flexor tendons off his elbow last Sept. 15 in a game against the Seahawks at Heinz Field.

We've seen him throw on three consecutive days. We've seen him throw on the run and cut the ball loose 50 yards down the field.

The only things we haven't seen Roethlisberger do at the Steelers' training camp here at Heinz Field at this point are some things he's a little anxious about, as well.

Playing in that first game.

"Yes and trying not to be too nervous. I've noticed and I've talked to Coach Randy (Fichtner) and Coach (Mike) Tomlin, when we've done some two-minute drills against our defense, I've felt the jelly-type of legs," Roethlisberger admitted Thursday. "I've never felt nervous about practice before, maybe not for a long time. I know if I'm nervous on the practice field right now, the game is going to be a different feeling.

"That is going to be the last hurdle. And getting hit. I've tried to talk T.J. (Watt) and some of those guys into giving me little bumps every once in a while, but no one will do it. Getting hit and calming the nerves are going to be big ones for me."

That came last Saturday night. As part of Tomlin's plan to get the Steelers some game-type action in a year in which there is no preseason, he had the team go through a regular pre-game routine. And the players were in full game uniform for the first time.

It marked the first time Roethlisberger had worn a full uniform since injuring his elbow. Hence the nervousness for a quarterback who has started three Super Bowls and five AFC Championship games.

"We had that first evening practice and I remember him coming off right after the first period and saying, 'My knees were shaking' I looked at him and said, 'What?' He said, 'Yeah, and it was only just the media in the stands,'" Fichtner said. "It was interesting, but it was really kind of the first time he had officially been back going through that process of pre-game and it was at night. I guess you would expect that. It shows how much he cares and how much he's put into getting back. Hence, those feelings are going to happen."

It's been full speed ahead for Roethlisberger in his comeback at age 38 from the elbow surgery that sidelined him for all but six quarters of the 2019 season. Thus far, he's continued to pass every test with flying colors.

The quarterback had dealt with pain in his elbow for more than a decade. He said in a documentary released Wednesday, he had a partial tear in a flexor tendon that he's dealt with for years. But that was completely different from what happened to him last year at the end of the first half of the game against the Seahawks.

The road to recovery has been a long one. And it will be nearly a year to the day when the Steelers open the regular season Sept. 14 against the Giants at MetLife Stadium.

He even practiced fully on three consecutive days last week, something he hadn't done in years.

"It's felt really good," Roethlisberger said. "For the last handful of years, we did the same routine with a full day, half day, off day. I even went three days in a row last week and it's been feeling really good. I definitely need to give it some time to rest, that one day off every so often, out of general fatigue and soreness, but it's amazing how fast it bounces back and feels great the next day."

So much so that he said his arm is even stronger than it was before, even though he never made any purposeful adjustments to deal with the pain he felt in the elbow over the years.

"It wasn't like I wasn't so much able to make the throws, it was the pain and discomfort I'd feel or the next day," Roethlisberger said. "I feel really good making some of the deeper down-the-field throws. One of the practices last week I wasn't able to step into it and I threw a go route down the sideline. I let go of it and it felt short and it ended up making it there in stride. I was surprised at how my arm strength has come back and maybe a little better than it was before."

Fichtner, Roethlisberger's longtime quarterback coach and now the team's offensive coordinator, has taken notice.

He's seen the bump in overall arm strength. And it's not just early in practice. Roethlisberger's arm strength is holding up throughout the sessions -- a good sign.

"I do," Fichtner said. "I feel the same way when we finish practice. I go up to him after practice and ask how he feels. And post-practice, he goes through some routines, too, just physical things he's always done. I like the idea from a script standpoint, he hasn't shied away from any deep opportunities. And we've taken several."

But it's still not a game.

Those will start to come in a couple of weeks. But they won't, however, be exactly the same as they were the last time Roethlisberger threw a pass under true pressure in a pre-pandemic time.

There will be no fans in the stands for that game against the Giants. And even in stadiums where some fans will be permitted -- the Steelers have not yet announced if they will be included in that group -- the stands won't be full.

"It's gonna be different," Roethlisberger said. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited after last year to run out of the tunnel at Heinz Field. There's nothing better. I'll never be able to put into words or describe to someone who hasn't done it what it's like to run out in that stadium here at home with the crowd screaming and waiving Terrible Towels. I was looking forward to that. Obviously, it's going to be different now.

"Playing as long as I have, it's going to be a unique situation whether there's going to be a few fans, no fans, I'm not really sure what's going to happen yet. All that being said, after last year, I'm just going to be happy out on the field playing the game."

That will be the bottom line. He said two weeks ago that he'd like to win multiple championships before he decides to retire. Roethlisberger is signed through 2021.

But that's not what's most on his mind right now.

"I'm just excited to have the opportunity to play this year," he said. "After missing last year, I can really only focus on this year because you realize you can't look past it. You can't look past one game. I want to give everything I have to this year and just really enjoy it, because I didn't get to last year."

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