You know we’re not panicking. It’s only the second week. We’re 1-1, we lost to a team that’s 2-0 and it was a one score game till the end. It feels like a bad feeling, a bad loss, but we understand it’s real early in the season. Everyone in our division has the same record, so we’re going to get ourselves together and get ready to go. — Ben.

From Teresa Varley, Steelers.com:

Ben Roethlisberger smiled when asked if it hurts when he laughs after injuring his left pectoral muscle against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

I actually can do that okay.

But there was pain on Sunday after he suffered the injury, something he isn’t certain how it happened, but knows it came early on.

I don’t know how it happened. I just know it happened early in the game. Typically when I reach for something outside the framework from my body, or trying to push up, get up off the ground or something like that. I haven’t thrown a ball since the game. You have a lot of adrenaline going during the game.

The Steelers return to the practice field on Wednesday, and Roethlisberger didn’t indicate what it will take for him to feel comfortable to play this Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals at Heinz Field.

Today’s only Wednesday, so we have a lot of time to get ready to go.

Roethlisberger took his share of hits against the Raiders, with two sacks but also a handful of other blows, something he knew could be the case with the Raiders pass rush.

We knew going in they had a good rush, high motor guys who were going to get after it. You have to prepare for that. But we all need to be better to eliminate hits, to have a better run game, to have more big plays, to be more efficient. It’s on all of us to help with those things. I tell the guys, no one has to be great. If we’re all good, then collectively we can be great. Offense is such a group effort. It takes literally all 11 guys every play to make it work. When one guy’s a little off here or there, it can affect the whole thing. We’re just going to keep learning and growing and figuring out how we can try and get […]

“Ben Roethlisberger has a pectoral injury of some kind, his left pectoral, that could affect him from a preparation standpoint. I don’t have an idea of how much (it will affect his preparation) as I sit here right now, but we better be ready to adjust and deal with that. And also we’ve got Devin Bush and Joe Haden, who both missed last week and who are working their way back. Their participation will be our guide, or non-participation will be our guide, in terms of analyzing their availability (for the Bengals). Diontae Johnson got hurt late in the game (knee). He’s looking better, but (that’s) not to be confused with looking great, so we’ll follow him and his health as we get through the week.”

You can read more here.

Ben puts the blame squarely on himself after the loss:

I just need to be better. Right now my play is just not good enough. If I played better, we would have had a chance to win the football game. That loss, I’ll take that. I apologize to the fans for that home opener. They were awesome, and it’s disappointing that we didn’t get that win.

Going forward:

You know, I think we’re working through it. I think that’s the good news if you will. It’s still early and we have time to figure it out. We’ve got a good team coming in here, divisional opponent, and we gotta get right. It’s frustrating. The best way to figure out identity is for the quarterback to play better. So, I’m gonna work on myself and get ready to myself ready to go. I need to work on making better reads, better throws, and try to put us in a situation to win a football game.

Ben was 27 of 40 for 295 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.


You can watch his post-game presser here.