Ben only attended first day of OTAs so far. Antonio only attended the first two days.

[Northern_Blitz]

Maybe I'm all wrong, but it seems like a lot of good could come out of the starters not being at OTAs. This gives the coaches a bunch of opportunity to evaluate all the guys who are on the bubble, and gives some players a chance to make an impression they wouldn't have been able to if the starters were there.

I'm sure it's like this every year. We just have the spotlight this year because Brown called out Bell.

[Buzz]

Why should Bell be there when his starting QB isn't there to hand off the ball to him?

[RuthlessBurgher]

Why Ben Roethlisberger's absence isn't an issue (yet)

8:00 AM ET

Jeremy Fowler
ESPN Staff Writer

PITTSBURGH -- After the Pittsburgh Steelers' first organized team activity workout in late May, Ben Roethlisberger was asked about Tom Brady skipping his sessions in New England.

"I think he can do whatever he wants," Roethlisberger said.

OTAs are voluntary, but the point was made: Brady's elite status affords him credibility.

Since then, Roethlisberger has missed a handful of OTAs in Pittsburgh. While Brady's relationship with the Patriots is perceived as shaky, Roethlisberger's situation is different and shouldn't be alarming unless he unexpectedly extends the absence into minicamp.

Roethlisberger has missed a handful of workouts each of the past few seasons. He is leaving the basic installation to the young quarterbacks and would be at OTAs if the team made it clear it wanted or needed him there, according to a source.

In other words, Big Ben is not making any grand statement by missing workouts. He's just missing them.

Roethlisberger, who made headlines last month by questioning the Steelers' third-round selection of quarterback Mason Rudolph instead of a player who can help the team win now, is widely expected to attend mandatory minicamp June 12-14. He could be back with the team for the third week of OTAs, which begins Tuesday.

Three players in particular benefit from Roethlisberger's absence. Landry Jones, Josh Dobbs and Rudolph are receiving a spike in reps, with Dobbs calling a handful of first-team snaps last week "invaluable."

Dobbs is sort of the forgotten quarterback in the equation. The Steelers likely wouldn't cut Rudolph regardless of how he performs in practices, and they still value Jones' veteran presence in case Roethlisberger gets hurt in the regular season.

But Dobbs, a fourth-round pick in 2017, is throwing with more confidence this spring and welcomes the competition.

"It's a great opportunity," Dobbs said. "It's on the biggest stage, and it's everything you dreamed of ... Show up and show out."

The Steelers shuffle quarterbacks through various practice lineups, Dobbs said, but Jones has been the lead quarterback for much of the past two weeks. Jones has turned into a quality backup entering Year 6, and perhaps he'll have good trade value in the fall if teams suffer preseason injuries at quarterback. For now, though, it wouldn't be a surprise if Jones is No. 2 in the fall.

That doesn't make this time of year, in his role, any easier.

"Backup quarterback is just a weird position," Jones said. "It's like you're a leader, but not really, until you have to be. You're more in the background than anything on days like today. You kind of have to step up into that role. It's an odd thing. Most of the time, you don't want to be seen or heard. When Ben's not here, you have to be seen or heard."

http://www.espn.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/post/_/id/28016/why-ben-roethlisbergers-absence-isnt-an-issue-yet

[RuthlessBurgher]

Ben Roethlisberger: If coach asked me to be here every day, I would

Posted by Josh Alper on June 6, 2018, 5:12 PM EDT

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t in attendance for several recent OTA sessions, but he was back at practice with his Steelers teammates on Wednesday.

Word was that there was “no driving reason” for Roethlisberger’s absence and that he was in regular contact with the coaching staff as they worked on installing base concepts for players with less experience than Roethlisberger. On Wednesday, Roethlisberger basically confirmed that was the case while adding that he also had a family vacation planned before the team’s offseason schedule was released.

“If coach asked me to be here every day, I would be here every day but they haven’t asked me to do that,” Roethlisberger said, via PennLive.com. “I’ve worked with [offensive coordinator] Randy Fichtner for eight years now, so it’s not like he’s a new guy coming in that work is necessary. So, we’ve got a lot of same guys back on offense. A lot of the stuff is plays that we’ve been doing before a lot of guys got here, that I’ve been doing a long time.”

The Steelers have their final OTA on Thursday and close out the offseason with next week’s mandatory minicamp.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/06/06/ben-roethlisberger-if-coach-asked-me-to-be-here-every-day-i-would/

[feltdizz]

haha... such a leader

I kid, I kid.. but before OTA's people were on here going on and on about how Bell should be there like the other guys due to Fitch being the new OC.

Ben just put that to bed.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Thursday, Jun 07, 2018 08:00 AM

Roethlisberger's OTA takes

Mike Prisuta

Steelers.com

For the record, Ben Roethlisberger said he would have had perfect attendance at OTAs had it been requested.

“If Coach (Mike Tomlin) asked me to be here every day, I’d be here every day,” Roethlisberger maintained on Wednesday. “They haven’t asked me to do that.”

Roethlisberger’s latest appearance at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex was his second in a three-week sequence of voluntary OTA sessions that concludes today and leads into mandatory veteran minicamp June 12-14.

“It depends on family vacations and things like that that are planned before the OTA schedule comes out,” Roethlisberger said of his availability. “Don’t want to mess with the wife.

“The time I was gone with my family on vacation was an awesome opportunity for the other quarterbacks to get reps. I know those guys really enjoyed it and they were thanking me for it. It’s really just, I think, a person-by-person, team-by-team feel thing.

“You gotta understand, too, that this is football without pads on. This is kind of getting back into it, that’s the way I look at OTAs and minicamp. It’s just kind of getting back into it, knocking some rust off.

“You start to get a feel of some young guys a little bit but it’s all going to change when you get to (training) camp. Once you get to camp, you get pads on and that’s when kind of real football begins, and that’s when you really start to see how guys are. There are a lot of guys that come out here at this time of year that look spectacular with no pads on and then you get pads on and it’s a different ballgame.”

Roethlisberger has a new offensive coordinator this season.

But Randy Fichtner had been the Steelers’ quarterbacks coach since 2010, so a relationship between the two is already well established.

“I’ve worked with Randy for eight years now,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s not like he’s a new guy just come in that work is necessary. I know he does his homework and I know he understands the game.

“We’re not calling plays out here right now, everything’s scripted. It’s just going to come down to trust. We communicate so much, and we have in the past on a game-to-game, series-to-series basis. Our communication has always been really good. I anticipate that continuing, and that kind of transitions into play calling a lot, I think.

“I think Randy’s a winner. I don’t think he cares how it gets done as long as you win a football game.”

https://www.steelers.com/news/roethlisberger-s-ota-takes

[RuthlessBurgher]

Monday, Jun 11, 2018 01:10 PM

Moving on to the next step

Teresa Varley

Steelers.com

The final stage of the Steelers offseason program kicks off on Tuesday, with a three-day mandatory minicamp.

It’s the culmination of what began back in April with Phase One of the offseason, where all players were permitted to do was basically work with the strength and conditioning staff, and has slowly developed into the OTAs, and now the minicamp.

“It’s that last thing before training camp,” said Tyson Alualu. “It’s preparing your body, playing football. When it’s over we go from that to how we trained early in the offseason and back to camp. This prepares you mentally for camp.”

The minicamp isn’t at the level of what training camp is. But there still is competition. And it picks up even a little more from OTAs, even if it isn’t close to what training camp is like.

“It’s a little taste of training camp,” said Tyler Matakevich. “That is what you work hard for, to be ready for training camp, which then gets you ready for the season. This is just another phase that you have to crank up a little bit and get ready to go.

“The intensity is more, the practices are longer, more like regular season. There is more meeting time. That definitely puts you in the football season mode.

“It’s huge. It’s very important. You are another step closer to training camp. It gives you a taste and gets you ready for it to start.”

The schedule will be similar to what the rookies faced during their three-day minicamp early in May, but that will be the only similarity they will see. With everyone on the field, and the pace now picking up more and more each day, it will be different.

“The intensity picks up,” said Alualu. “I think the rookies are the ones that will notice it the most, see the change. It will be closer to what training camp is like, just not with the pads. I think that will be the difference. Guys will be flying around more, getting after it and taking the competition to another level.”

Maurkice Pouncey is getting set for his ninth minicamp, and to him, the offseason is all the same.

“It’s pretty much the same practice, it’s just mandatory for guys to be here,” said Pouncey. “Nothing intensifies too much until we hit training camp and then the season starts up.

“I think it’s more getting ready for the offseason to start up again and getting ready for the real season to start.”

https://www.steelers.com/news/moving-on-to-the-next-step