Ben Roethlisberger was forced to do a lot of playcalling/game designing on the fly last season. Now he has a new OC, whose system is very different than what he's run lately. The 39-year old QB says, "I'm just trying to do everything I can to be open to the new challenge."
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) June 1, 2021
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger spoke to the media for the first time since he signed his contract in March on Tuesday. Roethlisberger seemed upbeat and excited about the upcoming season and the new offense under offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
He also made a not-so-subtle jab at his former offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner. It was pretty clear even before the team lost its 11-game losing streak that Fichtner was no longer running the offense and instead Roethlisberger was forced to improvise given what he had on hand.
The Steelers offense fell into a deep rut last season, completely giving up on the run game and being relegated to a dink-and-dump passing game. Fichtner was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2018 having been the quarterbacks coach since 2010. His relationship with Roethlisberger surely played a role in the promotion but from day one, Fichtner was in over his head.
