Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger missed nearly all of the 2019 season due to injury.
That has obviously led many to wonder about the quarterback in 2020. Will he be healthy and ready to go for the new season?
Well, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Twitter, Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin spoke on the “readiness” of Roethlisberger in regards to the 2020 season.
Mike Tomlin on progress of Ben Roethlisberger: "He's comfortable and pleased where he is. Some people who had the opportunity to work with him are impressed and pleased where he is. The medical experts are comfortable where he is and his readiness for 2020."
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) June 23, 2020
There it is. That should wash away the doubt of most people. Tomlin himself seems very confident that Roethlisberger is where he needs to be for the 2020 season.
It's not like the Steelers head coach is just saying that either. He's bringing out the “medical experts” and talking about people who have had the opportunity to work with Roethlisberger so far this year.
Pittsburgh went 8-8 last season. And they did so with some pretty abysmal quarterback play. Now imagine that team gets back their superstar quarterback? The leader of their team.
Suddenly that team that went 8-8 and just barely missed the playoffs is a serious threat. They are absolutely in the playoff hunt, and could even be considered legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
Roethlisberger is that much of a game-changer for Pittsburgh, even at this stage in his career.
The quarterback is 38 years old, but his career could be far from over. His last healthy season (2018) saw Roethlisberger set new career-highs in multiple categories. Those categories included passing yards (5,129) and touchdown passes (34). Meanwhile, his completion percentage of 67 was just 1% off of tying his career-best in that stat.
2020 could be a major bounce-back season for Roethlisberger and the Steelers. And it sounds like Tomlin is giving everyone else a fair warning.