Zac Taylor expects Ben Roethlisberger to start even if he doesn't practice: "He’s a great quarterback and has had so many reps over the course of his life, you can’t image he’s going to be any different whether he's been practicing all week or not. We have to be ready for him."
— Joe Rutter (@tribjoerutter) November 12, 2020
The Cincinnati Bengals are taking the cautious approach for this week’s game with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Despite the fact quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has two injured knees and is on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor expects Big Ben to play.
This is definitely the prudent move for the Bengals on a couple of levels. First off, if Roethlisberger doesn’t play, Cincinnati’s focus doesn’t need to be on Mason Rudolph or Joshua Dobbs. Neither player offers much in the way of playmaking.
But it’s also the smart option given how tough Roethlisberger has shown himself to be throughout his career. Based on COVID protocols, unless Roethlisberger has a positive test, Roethlisberger will be activated on Saturday and play on Sunday. It isn’t ideal that Roethlisberger will go all week without practice but this shouldn’t be a huge problem for a veteran like Roethlisberger.
But I want to pass the question off to you. Should the Steelers hold Roethlisberger this week just to be safe or does he have to play?
