What if Ben Roethlisberger only gets worse?
As CBS Sports NFL reporter Jonathan Jones puts it, Ben’s arm, “is cooked. His mobility is nil,” and also adds the lackluster play of the offensive line.
The Steelers gambled on Roethlisberger coming back stronger than he did a year ago after major elbow surgery, but so far he’s not looking good.
Talking to Pat McAfee on Friday, Ian Rapoport said about Roethlisberger’s health, “he’s not healthy, no. He’s got a left pec strain which is defeinatly not nothing.”
“He’s in a lot of pain when he throws so I’m not going to go pretend like he’s healthy, I think he’s going to play,” added Rapoport.
Ultimately though, Rapoport says he isn’t concerned about Ben’s injury and that the Steelers will “be okay.”
But through three games, Roethlisberger has 801 passing yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions and two fumbles. He's ranked 22nd currently on NFL.com.
His offensive line gives him hardly any time in the pocket and he continues to hold on to the ball too long.
So why did the Steelers bring him back?
Jones says he talked to several of his NFL sources this week and these are some of the responses he got.
"It's hard to see good players get old," one league source said.
"They have never moved on from their players at the right time and their contingency plan isn't the answer," another texted.
"Because they really believe he can still play," one said. "He has way too much control over there."
If Roethlisberger and the offense don’t turn it around soon, it will put the Steelers into a bad situation, one of their own making mind you.
After re-signing him at a reduced salary, it’s hard to see the Steelers benching Roethlisberger, a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame.
Even if they do though, they don’t have many options behind him with Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins as backups.
As Jones says, the best possible thing for the Steelers is to put him on the Reserve/Injured List at some point, but that won’t make the Steelers better.
