(Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network was at the Steelers training camp practice yesterday and got the chance to speak to Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert in a one-on-one interview.
Earlier in the day, Colbert told Pittsburgh media members that he's just worried about the 2021 season in regards to Ben Roethlisberger's future. When he spoke with Rapoport, Colbert expanded and revealed that he's "extremely comfortable" with Roethlisberger being the Steelers' quarterback in 2021. He also said it was the entire team that collapsed late last year, not just Roethlisberger.
"Last year, coming off that surgery, nobody knew, really. I didn't see his arm deteriorate as the season went on. We deteriorated as a team. We just weren't as good," Colbert told Rapoport. "To a man, nobody performed like they we were earlier in the season. I think anybody that denies that is not living in reality. We deteriorated, all of us. I'm encouraged by his wanting to be here, the things he did contractually to be here, not only to make himself available but to help put a team around him under those circumstances. Physically, I'm extremely comfortable with where he is but his mindset and doing what he did to help himself, help us and help his teammates, I think is huge."
Roethlisberger had a one-on-one interview with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated this past weekend and said that he feels significantly better than last year with it being his second offseason of recovery from major elbow surgery.
“I feel great,” Roethlisberger told Breer. “You go two years ago, only playing a couple games, having elbow surgery, last year’s your first year back from a major surgery. I think if you ask anybody that’s had a major surgery, their first year back, no matter how far removed from it, it’s always a re-figure out, and getting to a comfort level with that part of your body. For me to feel more back to normal, I’m excited for that.
“It’s always interesting, because when asked last year how I felt, I would tell you I felt great. But then, one year removed, I look back on it, and I’m like, 'Man, maybe I wasn’t as good as I feel now.'”