Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will be watching another regular season finale from the outside, as he did last year, and did several years ago. Only this time, it will be more like the 2016 and 2017 finals, watching because they secured their playoff position, rather than injury.
Roethlisberger was a healthy scratch for the final three other times in his career, so this is nothing new for him, but he also emphasized that, whether he chose to sit or not, it was never his decision. Instead, it was head coach Mike Tomlin who informed him, instead of arguing about it.
“He came to me and said that I will not play as soon as the last game is over,” Roethlisberger told reporters today. “I knew it was the end of the discussion. There was no point in arguing with him or saying anything ”.
Okay, I’m sure that, if it were up to him, he probably would have chosen to sit down anyway, although that is very speculative on my part and should not be carried with any weight. After all, he is a competitor, and loving or not practicing on Wednesdays is very different from skipping a meaningful game. With that said, he’ll take the day off at all costs.
“It’s more or less one of those things that, in terms of fieldwork this week, I can do something on Friday, very little,” he said, recalling that he cannot draw repetitions from those who will play. “It can be more during special teams, maybe just grabbing the guys and going through things in another field, playing a little bit. For me, it will be a good mental and physical rest for a few days ”.
Given the fact that the Steelers have never had an adequate ‘rest’ period this season, with their farewell week and their ‘mini-goodbye’ that was supposed to happen after playing a Thursday night game having been messed up due to their opponents facing Covid 19 bouts, it’s fair to use this opportunity to give your quarterback a little rest.
With the rest, unfortunately, this will leave Roethlisberger with a few notable marks in a single season. He will now end with 33 touchdown passes, one of them in his own franchise record. He launched at least one touchdown pass in each game, and at least two in all but three games.
He also ends the season with 3,804 yards, needing less than 200 to record his seventh season of 4,000 yards. He will end, however, with an almost identical passer rank for the 2020 season that he has calculated throughout his career – along with by far the lowest yards per career attempt except the 2019 season.