Big Ben Shoots Down Talk of Steelers Comeback: ‘No, I’m Good’

With the injury to Kenny Pickett and poor quarterback, some social media users have called for a comeback from Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger. Those talks seemed to intensify on Monday after the Browns and Joe Flacco, who is 38, diced up the Jacksonville Jaguars. But Roethlisberger shot down any thoughts of that.

On his podcast, Footbahlin, Roethlisberger stated that his arm felt good. In a joking manner, he said the Steelers have not called him, but the real hang-up? His numerous leg injuries over his career are why Roethlisberger could not return.

“No, I’m good,” Roethlisberger said. “No, the Steelers have not called me. The wing feels great. The legs? No good. I can sit in the pocket, just don’t let me get out of the pocket.”

That’s not surprising from Roethlisberger, as his legs got progressively worse over the course of his career, and he became less mobile over time. That mattered a lot for someone who lived by making those dynamite plays off-script. But in 2023, that is no good, and he will not make a comeback.

Instead, the team will move forward with Mitch Trubisky. The Steelers denied any semblance of a quarterback competition between Trubisky and Mason Rudolph on Monday. Head coach Mike Tomlin revealed that Rudolph will get more opportunities this week leading up to prep, but there will be no open competition.

“I don’t know that we’re evaluating practice performance in that way at this time of the year,” Tomlin said. “He’ll have an opportunity to get some work. We’ll evaluate that work and we’ll evaluate his readiness, but we’re not opening up competition and things of that nature. It’s just not an environment for that as we work.”

Trace McSorley is on the practice squad as an option, too. But Roethlisberger is not going to be one of those options. He seems to have moved on from football, and the Steelers moved on from him when they drafted Pickett. If they were to make a move for a veteran who has been around the block, it would be for someone who is training to play and in shape to do so, such as Flacco was for the Browns.