Steelers’ Tomlin says Big Ben ‘absolutely’ the right QB for his team

Mike Tomlin admits Ben Roethlisberger can’t move around and extend plays like he used to. The Pittsburgh Steelers coach doesn’t believe that’s reason enough to move on from his team’s longtime quarterback during a 1-3 start.

Tomlin believes the accuracy issues that have plagued Roethlisberger over the opening month of the two-time Super Bowl winner’s 18th season are “fixable”and has no plans to turn to backup Mason Rudolph. Asked Tuesday if Roethlisberger is the right quarterback to run firstyear offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s system, Tomlin replied “absolutely.”

“What he does and what he’s done makes me really comfortable in saying that,”tomlin said.

At least, when Roethlisberger is healthy. Something he’s not at the moment. The 39-year-old is dealing with a hip issue that could limit his practice time ahead of Sunday’s visit from Denver (3-1). He injured his left pectoral muscle during a loss to Las Vegas on Sept. 19, though he took every snap during a 24-10 setback against Cincinnati the following Sunday.

It’s uncertain when Roethlisberger tweaked his hip. The Packers sacked him twice while beating the Steelers 2717 last weekend, pushing the season total that Pittsburgh’s retooled offensive line has allowed to 10 — just three fewer than Roethlisberger took in 15 games while leading the Steelers to the AFC North title. Roethlisberger is completing 62% of his passes since Pittsburgh’s franchiserecord 11-0 run to start 2020 ended, with a pedestrian QB rating of 80.6, well below his career average of 93.7.