Randy Fichtner has been with the Steelers for most of Ben Roethlisberger's career after joining the team as an assistant coach in 2007. His first three seasons were spent coaching the wide receivers, but the past eight have placed him in direct contact with Roethlisberger on a daily basis as the team's quarterbacks coach.
Monday, I had the opportunity to speak with Fichtner, along with a couple of other reporters, regarding Roethlisberger's play this season.
The Steelers' quarterback has guided the team to a 6-2 record in the first half of this season but has 10 touchdown passes and nine interceptions, while completing just 61.1 percent of his passes, his lowest since 2008. Fichtner has coached Roethlisberger through his best statistical seasons. He was quite blunt about the quarterback's play thus far and what he needs to do moving forward.
Me: Did you spend the bye week critiquing Ben's play from the first half?
Fichtner: We do it pretty regularly, weekly. We try to evaluate the good and the bad and the things we need to keep improving on. The games we didn't play really well in kind of speak for themselves.
It's not necessarily a critique, necessarily, as it is looking about what we need to do against upcoming opponents and kind of where he needs to be. One of the things is rest this week. You noticed he didn't get a whole lot of work, in terms of throwing, to rest up for the last eight weeks.
Me: Do you have to make concessions to the fact that he's a 35-year-old quarterback?
Fichtner: I definitely think you should. And we have. Generally on Wednesdays he doesn't practice much. We don't script him into the practices and he casually keeps pushing himself in more and more. This (bye) just gave him the ability to back off a little and it's been good for him. He wanted to go today and we kind of held him back. We'll practice on Wednesday.
Me: Is his accuracy what it was in the past?
Fichtner: I don't know. I don't know if you can say it was great, bad or indifferent.
Me: It's still good, but sometimes you say, that doesn't look like Ben.
Fichtner: Yeah, and sometimes it's just a situation. And he'd be the first to tell you, 'Ah man, I missed that throw.' Or, 'I didn't get my feet right.' Or, 'I rushed it.' It all goes hand in hand. You put balls in position for guys to make plays and that's what they do. Generally, we're in the atmosphere of being able to do that.
Question: How do you find a balance when maybe he's not going as good as you're used to?
Fichtner: You get used to the Superman cape coming off all the time and it just hasn't yet, maybe. There's been series, there have been plays. There have been a lot of unique plays. But I think everyone, we get caught thinking that Superman cape should be coming off every play when it doesn't necessarily have to. If we protect the ball and we give ourself a chance, that's the end story, the end game, to win the game.
Me: Could it be an issue with his legs a little bit that cause his throws to sail a little?
Fichtner: Yeah. That goes into it. That's why, from a practice standpoint, that you have to make sure you're repping and they've live reps. It's not just throwing the ball and how many balls you throw in a day. It's maybe how much work you're getting done. They're working when they're not on the field. They have responsibility in the weight room. He does a routine all the time with weights and bikes and things like that. Altogether, you want to make sure that's moving in the right direction. I think the bye couldn't have come at a better time for him or for us.
Question: What happens if he puts on the cape more consistently?
Fichtner: We've all seen it. It's special. It's happened a lot. But I don't know that you necessarily have to do that. We just talk about him being that point guard, more often times than not. Get the ball to the right guy to make a play and trust these guys to make a play. We've got enough guys to do that.
Question: What is it about this offense that allows him to not have to do that?
Fichtner: It's probably the makeup of teams. You get in certain games and you feel like you're in a rhythm as a team. You don't have to do Superman-type things. You don't have to even throw the ball at times. Protect the ball. Run the ball and exert your will. I think, at times, we have done that. You've seen the plays where we've done that, third downs, situational football is always going to revert back to the quarterback. That's where we want it to be.
Question: How do you convince a guy who has put on the cape so many times that maybe this isn't the time we need to do that?
Fichtner: He's had so many in-helmet perspectives that you don't really have to talk about it. We're sure it is the right thing to do. We talk about situational football and the play within it. He understands that.
Me: Is he sometimes too reliant on Antonio (Brown)?
Fichtner: I don't know if you can be too reliant. He's proven. He makes plays. Sometimes, it goes back to people. If you're in a situation in a game and you're trying to make a play, you go back to the guys who make plays for you. He's starting to, you see the chemistry between him and JuJu (Smith-Schuster). And we've seen chemistry between him and (Martavis Bryant) before. It hasn't mattered who's playing. The ball has to be dispersed to the right guy more often than not. Obviously, there are times when it goes to AB and AB makes that special play. They've done that for a long time together.
Question As far as arm strength and arm quality, you still see the same guy?
Fichtner: I do. I still feel the accuracy. I still feel the ball coming out. You guys are out here at practice every day. There may be a moment or two where he does throw it like a 36-year-old. Maybe a 36-year-old has a moment where the ball doesn't come out perfect. We're talking perfect. We're not talking about good enough. That's generally what he is.
