Steelers QB sorry for critical comments

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t think he and Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley need to be best friends to co-exist.

The quarterback, however, also knows he can’t start calling Haley out when things don’t go as planned, no matter how bothered the Steelers captain may get by the playcalling

It’s why Roethlisberger apologized to Haley, coach Mike Tomlin and owner Art Rooney II after making pointed remarks about the direction of the offense following a 27-24 overtime loss to Dallas on Sunday.

“I let my frustrations jump out after a game, I don’t usually do that,” Roethlisberger said. “Usually, I keep it under control. I was just frustrated with myself and I’ll be better at that.”

Roethlisberger completed 24 of 40 passes for 339 yards and two touchdowns against Dallas but also threw a critical interception on the second play of overtime that set up the game-winning field goal. Afterward he expressed disappointment in Haley’s decision to stay away from the “no-huddle” offense. And he wondered why Haley didn’t feature tight end Heath Miller, who had six receptions for 85 yards in the first half and just one catch for seven yards in the second.

Looking back, Roethlisberger — who took full responsibility for the loss — figures he probably should have just kept quiet.

“We do have a lot of talks behind closed doors about things, about plays, play calling,” he said. “If I’m doing something that’s not right on the field, we have talks about everything.”

Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday his franchise quarterback and Haley are on the same page. Roethlisberger agreed but allowed that doesn’t mean they’re on the same sentence.

“There are going to be times when you just don’t see eye-to-eye,” he said. “There are times when I don’t see eye-to-eye with Coach Tomlin. But that doesn’t mean anything, I don’t think.”

The Steelers (7-7) have dropped four of their last five and need to win their final two games against Cincinnati (8-6) and Cleveland (5-9) to reach the playoffs.

It’s not exactly the position Pittsburgh expected to be in after a four-game winning streak pushed them to 6-3. Yet things haven’t quite been the same since a 16-13 overtime win against Kansas City on Nov. 12. Roethlisberger went down with a sprained shoulder and dislocated rib that sidelined him for three weeks and he hasn’t been quite the same player.

Roethlisberger was completing nearly 70 percent of his passes going into the game against the Chiefs. Over his last 2 1/2 games, his completion percentage has dipped to just 55 percent (55 of 100) as defenses have become more aggressive at pressing Pittsburgh’s fast but somewhat undersized wide receivers at the line of scrimmage hoping to upset Haley’s short-passing game.

Running back Jonathan Dwyer rushed for 122 yards in a 24-17 win at Cincinnati on Oct. 21. He has 122 yards combined in Pittsburgh’s last four games, three of which he served as the starter.

Dwyer is still listed as the starter and it appears unlikely the Steelers would turn to veteran Rashard Mendenhall, who returned to practice on Wednesday after serving a one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.

Mendenhall declined to talk about why he failed to show up at Heinz Field for a game against San Diego two weeks ago after the Steelers decided to make him inactive, though Roethlisberger isn’t quite ready to call Mendenhall’s tenure over.