Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is making a strong case for not needing practice during the week.
The NFL has named the 17-year veteran the AFC offensive player of the week after the Steelers 36-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Roethlisberger had four touchdowns and completed 27 of 46 passes for 333 yards with a passer rating of 110.1.
It is the 18th time in his career he has been awarded the honor and the first time he has been the AFC Player of the Week since Week 10 in 2018.
On Tuesday coach Mike Tomlin said that he had a "brief" conversation with Roethlisberger and that even though he did well without practice, he expects him on the field Thursday.
"Really just felt nice and rested coming into today," Roethlisberger said after the win on Sunday, adding he also iced it a lot. "Tried to talk Coach into seeing if I could take next week off too."
"Ben's been doing this for a while, going 15 plus years being in the league and doing what Ben does," said receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who had nine catches, one for a score. "For him, it's more like backyard football being out there and calling the plays, and as you can see there's series we'll go no-huddle down the field and put points on the board."
"I didn't really talk to Ben during the week," said receiver Diontae Johnson, who had six receptions for 116 yards and a TD. "I texted him and what not to check on him, make sure he's OK like early on in the week, but other than that, I'm sure he was online, virtual, but I didn't really talk to him."
"I was a little nervous coming into this game," Roethlisberger said. "I'm not really sure why. I texted my wife right before and said I've got a little bit of nerves, a little bit of jitters, whether it's lack of preparation or what."
