PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) -- Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger dismissed a report that he had suffered cracked ribs two weeks ago in Oakland.
Asked Tuesday during his show on The Fan about the report from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Roethlisberger denied it and criticized Rapoport’s reporting.
“You shouldn’t even say his name on this show because nothing of what he says there is any truth to," Roethlisberger said. "I have no idea where that came from. My wife texted me before the game like, ‘Did you hear about this?’ I’m in the locker room like, ‘This is unbelievable.’ I don’t know where that guy gets his information from, so we’re not even going to give him credence on this show if that’s OK with you.”
The Steelers say Roethlisberger is suffering from bruised ribs.
In 2013, Rapoport reported that Roethlisberger was unhappy with the Steelers and wanted to be traded to the Arizona Cardinals.
Roethlisberger said Sunday’s victory against the New England Patriots was a complete team win. Running back Jaylen Samuels had a big day filling in for the injured James Conner with 142 rushing yards on 19 carries, and wide receiver James Washington, whom Roethlisberger had singled out a few weeks ago, had his biggest game this season with three catches for 65 yards.
“I thought that James made some huge plays for us. The one down the sideline tracking the ball, going up, high-pointing it, thought that was great. Then he had a catch and (broke) a tackle (for a) run. He starting to play with confidence, and when I said that to him a few weeks ago, ‘get your confidence back’, he’s showing that,” said Roethlisberger.
Roethlisberger was criticized for his criticism of Washington after the Steelers’ loss to the Denver Broncos, but Roethlisberger says he knew Washington would use it to improve.
“That’s why I didn’t get too worked up when the outside world called me out for saying what I did to him because they don’t know what’s going on," Roethlisberger said. "You know there’s the talking heads and the 'professionals' on ESPN and they think they know, but they really don’t know what’s going on inside our locker room, so I am just so proud of (Washington).”