Ben Roethlisberger post-surgery: 'This is not the end for me. This is not how I’m going out’

Helplessly watching his teammates for the final 14½ games of last season was difficult, Ben Roethlisberger acknowledged during a satellite radio interview Thursday, but what he saw out of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense reinvigorated Roethlisberger to come back at his best in 2020.

“I am excited to come back,” Roethlisberger said Thursday on SiriusXM NFL Radio, “because I think that (the Steelers defense) is going to be an integral part of a potential championship run, which is what we’re all looking for.”

In one of the few interviews he’s done since undergoing season-ending elbow surgery last September, Roethlisberger compared the work of Steelers outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree last season to that of James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley during the Steelers defense’s 2008 heyday. He also complimented the team’s secondary, specifically safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Terrell Edmunds.

Still, Roethlisberger said it was “tough” not being able to play after halftime of the second game of the season. Though the Steelers’ defense carried them from an 0-3 start to 8-5 by early December, the play of backup quarterbacks Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges held back the offense during a season-ending three-game losing streak.

Roethlisberger never had missed more than four games in any of his previous 15 NFL seasons.

“I think it really put a little fire into me,” Roethlisberger said on a show co-hosted by former Steelers teammate Bruce Gradkowski. “Like, ‘This is not the end for me. This is not how I’m going out. I’m going to go bust my butt, and I’m going to give it everything I have to just give myself a chance to just come back and try to and better than ever.’ ”

Roethlisberger said he typically has rested is arm over the offseason in recent years, but he adjusted his routine this spring because of the recovery from surgery. Roethlisberger is throwing about three times per week.

“Just to kind of get a back into a feel and a groove of things,” he said.

Because his home is in a rural area and with plenty of land around, Roethlisberger said his three children haven’t had as big of an adjustment to the changes in routine most of society has endure out of coronavirus fears.

“It’s been pretty much normal, other than the kids are here for the homeschooling all the time,” Roethlisberger said.

While talking with Gradkowski, a Seton LaSalle graduate, Roethlisberger brought up another one of his backups over the years, Byron Leftwich. Leftwich, who was with the Steelers for four seasons between 2008-12, is the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Bucs’ starting quarterback this season, Tom Brady, will be two years older than the man calling plays for him. Roethlisberger said the news Brady signed with Tampa Bay after 20 seasons with the New England Patriots left him excited for Brady. Brady’s new head coach is former Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, who grew close with the Roethlisberger.

“(Brady is) going to enjoy the heck out of (playing for the Bucs) because (Arians) was fun to play for,” Roethlisberger said. “Byron Leftwich, I texted Byron and said, like, ‘Hey, don’t screw it up.’ And he said, ‘All I got to do is get out of the way.’ It’s going to be good for him. I’m excited for all of them.”

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