Ben Roethlisberger and three teammates were activated from the reserve/COVID list on Saturday and took part in the team's walkthrough in preparation for the Steelers' game Sunday against the Bengals.
But the Steelers' quarterback said being at home this week while in isolation was different than any other time in his career when he didn't practice leading up to a game because of injury.
"It’s definitely different than in years past when I haven’t practiced because I was on the field behind the quarterback hearing the calls that were made, hearing the play call coming in from the coach, (Maurice) Pouncey’s calls, things like that, as Coach (Mike) Tomlin would say, the in-helmet perspective," Roethlisberger said Saturday morning. "Even if you’re not out there, you can hear it and be a part of it. It’s definitely different. I watched every play at practice, but you just watch on your iPad at home, so you don’t get to hear all of those things. It was definitely a lot different than anything I’ve experienced before."
Roethlisberger, who will start for the Steelers (8-0) against the Bengals (2-5-1) has been in this situation in the past. In 2015, for example, he was coming off an injury and did not practice all week leading up to a game against the Browns. Landry Jones started the game, with Roethlisberger only available in case of emergency. Jones was injured early in the first quarter and Roethlisberger came off the bench to throw for 379 yards and three touchdowns.
It is the most yards ever thrown for by a quarterback coming off the bench in an NFL game.
The difference this time around, however, is that Roethlisberger -- along with linebacker Vince Williams, offensive lineman Jerald Hawkins and running back Jaylen Samuels -- were not permitted to be at the UMPC-Rooney Sports Complex this week because of their possible exposure to the coronavirus.
"There’s something to be said — and maybe I’m old-school — about sitting in a meeting when you’re installing stuff, when your coaches are talking and your guys are in there in the same room and you can have dialogue and talk about little nuances," Roethlisberger said. "You can still do that in the Zoom meetings, but it’s just different. So, this week was much different than anything I’ve experience by not being able to be here, to be on the field, to have communication with guys in practice."
It also made life interesting at home for the quarterback and his wife, Ashley. The couple have three small children and were concerned about potentially exposing them to the virus at well.
The Roethlisbergers are home-schooling their children this year in an effort to ensure nobody in the family was infected.
"You’re always a little nervous about it," Roethlisberger said. "But I wore a mask when I was at home. It we went anywhere in a car, I wore a mask. The family got tested every other day. I got tested every day, they got every other day. You’re always nervous. My wife slept in the other room. We slept in opposite rooms, things like that. My wife said, ‘I don’t care if I get it. We don’t want the kids to get it.’ You always care more about your kids than you care about yourself. We’ve been as safe as we can possibly be at home I think."