Pittsburgh Steelers: How Ben Roethlisberger Spent His Week on the Reserve/COVID-19 List
PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger has spent the week preparing to quarterback the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday through Zoom calls and text messages.
The Steelers leader was quarantined at home for the last five days as he handled the NFL's COVID-19 protocols. After the team received a positive test for tight end Vance McDonald, they conducted contact tracing and discovered Roethlisberger and three others were "high risk" contact.
All four players were placed on the team's Reserve/COVID-19 list. To be removed, they needed to pass back-to-back COVID-19 tests and show no symptoms for five days.
"My body enjoyed the week off. My mind, from teaching pre-k, did not enjoy the week off," Roethlisberger laughed. "It was fun to be home with [the family], but I definitely missed the guys."
Roethlisberger and the three others were activated off the team's Reserve/COVID-19 list on Saturday. The team went through an extensive walkthrough with the four players at practice.
It was the quarterback's first time at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex this week due to the quarantine. Despite not practicing all week, Roethlisberger will start for the Steelers as they take on the Cincinnati Bengals.
It's not the first time Roethlisberger missed practice and still played. He's participating from the sideline on Fridays before, but never from an iPad before.
"It's different from years past. Typically, when I haven't practiced, I've at least been on the field behind the quarterbacks. Hearing the calls that were made, hearing the calls coming in from the coach, [Maurkice] Pouncey's calls, stuff like that. As coach Tomlin would say, 'the in-helmet perspective.'"
Roethlisberger watched "every play" at practice through iPads. There was no sound so he could not hear calls being made.
The team conducted all meetings throughout the week virtually. Players only reported to the facility for practice and for body care/weightlifting, which happened in shifts.
Roethlisberger said gameplanning for the Bengals was a bit different from years past. Working virtually, he was unable to hear what was happening on the practice field and sent "a lot of texts" to offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and quarterbacks coach Matt Canada.
"I was able to chime in during the meetings. Still, you don't know how wired in guys are. In today's society, guys can have an iPad in front of them, but they also might have their phone next to them looking at things or watching tv. I'm not saying it's happening, but you never know. When you're in a meeting room, you know everyone's dialed, you know what's going on."
Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
