[jwplayer GGOawfDb-ThvAeFxT]
Unfortunately for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, he had to watch nearly all of the 2019 season from the sidelines. Coming off one of his best seasons as a pro, Roethlisberger went down with a season-ending elbow injury in the second game.
However, just because Roethlisberger wasn’t on the field doesn’t mean he wasn’t paying attention to his wide receivers. He definitely was. Big Ben was on the morning show on WDVE and heaped the praise on James Washington and JuJu Smith-Schuster for how they played despite all the adversity of the season.
“I thought James Washington really took some big steps in terms of his conditioning,” Roethlisberger said. “You kind of are able to see some of the small things when you’re on the sideline that you wouldn’t normally see when you’re in the huddle or on the field.”
“I saw James Washington on numerous occasions, multiple times a game, run deep routes — obviously full-speed, looking for the ball — doesn’t get it, and he is like sprinting back to the huddle and runs another route, said Roethlisberger”
“I think one of the most impressive things which I saw on the sideline and had communication with him was JuJu,” Roethlisberger said. “I think you saw a guy that wasn’t as productive as he wanted to be and as he was expected to be but he was still able to go out there and be a leader for guys. Guys in that receivers room, guys were still looking up to him, still talking to him. He was out there giving it everything he had.”
Steelers wide receivers too a disproportionate amount of criticism last season for the offensive struggles but the biggest culprit was grossly inconsistent quarterback play. All of these receivers should see a significant bump in production with a franchise quarterback getting them the football.
[vertical-gallery id=461808]
[lawrence-related id=461874]