For the past few months, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been growing a beard that rivals any in the NFL.

People grow facial hair for different reasons, and Roethlisberger said on Sirius XM with Bruce Murray and former Steeler Bruce Gradkowski that he decided to grow the beard when he was flying out for a surgical procedure on his elbow.

“I’m not sure why,” the Steelers QB said. “I just felt something that said don’t cut your hair or your beard until you come back.”

However, while Roethlisberger seems dedicated to his new facial hair, his wife Ashley is not a fan.

“She liked it at first,” Ben Roethlisberger said with a sigh. “Hates it now. I keep saying that she’s going to cut it off in my sleep.”

The veteran quarterback only played two games for Pittsburgh this past season after suffering an elbow injury in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks. Roethlisberger ended up on the injured reserve list of the Steelers and underwent surgery in September.

However, Big Ben is not quite ready for a comeback just yet.

That's exactly what is keeping Roethlisberger from shaving his beard. The 38-year-old signal-caller said that once he can throw an NFL pass again, he'll shave. Until then, however, the beard stays.

Roethlisberger has sported facial hair many times throughout his career, but the current iteration is certainly as big of a beard as he has had and it could get much larger depending on when the QB feels like he can return.

In 2018, his last healthy year, the six-time Pro Bowler completed 67.0 percent of his passes with the Steelers for a league-high 5,129 yards and 34 touchdowns. However, Big Ben also led the NFL in interceptions with 16.