Roethlisberger is sharp in practice

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Ten seconds were all Ben Roethlisberger needed to prove to the Pittsburgh Steelers he wasn’t affected by his month away from the NFL.

On the first pass he threw Tuesday in his first post-suspension practice, Roethlisberger found fast wide receiver Mike Wallace far downfield for an over-the-shoulder catch of a perfectly thrown football.

Right about then, his teammates probably were thinking the same thing: Ben is back.

“We have our whole team here, and we have our leader — our quarterback — back with us,” Wallace said. “He makes everybody better. The offense is definitely going to go in another direction.”

Roethlisberger showed no rustiness or lack of rhythm in his first practice since training camp, zipping passes throughout a 30-minute passing drill that was incorporated into the practice to quickly get him and his receivers back in sync.

“It was a good step, and I don’t think it’ll take as long as I thought,” Roethlisberger said.

He’ll have two more practice days during this bye week to regain his timing and precision, followed by a full work week before the Oct. 17 home game against Cleveland.

“It normally takes a while to get going out there, but it felt pretty good,” Roethlisberger said. “I knew that my arm would be good. I knew it would be strong, and I knew it would feel good. It’s just a matter of working with the guys.”

Since last being with the team on Sept. 2, Roethlisberger threw almost daily to a collection of receivers at high school stadiums, intentionally throwing more passes than normal because he wasn’t throwing any in games. A private quarterbacks coach helped him with his footwork and delivery.

Wallace, the team’s fastest receiver, couldn’t remember Roethlisberger throwing a bad pass during the entire practice.

“We’re going to throw the ball because we’ve got one of the best guys back,” Wallace said. “So I’m excited. I’ve been smiling. Ever since last night, I’ve been smiling.”

Despite having the league’s No. 31 passing offense with fill-in quarterbacks Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon, the Steelers came out of Roethlisberger’s four-game suspension about as good as could be expected with a 3-1 record. Apparently, the quarterback himself came out of the suspension about as good as could be expected, too.

By playing as well as they did without the two-time Super Bowl winner, the Steelers put aside any doubts about how Roethlisberger would be welcomed back. Potentially, there could have been hard feelings if his off-field problems had led to an 0-4 start, but his teammates insisted they’ve long since put the quarterback’s troubles behind them.

Roethlisberger apologized to them during offseason workouts for potentially jeopardizing their season and, by the time training camp arrived, he was warmly received by fans.

“What’s in the past is in the past,” wide receiver Hines Ward said. “He did his time. He did his suspension, and now we’re moving on. And we’re glad to have him back with our team. We’re 3-1 right now, so we’re going to hand it over to him and let him do his thing and try to win ball games.”