Steelers RB James Conner says Ben Roethlisberger ‘looks great’

Many have been wondering how Ben Roethlisberger will look this season after missing most of last season due to elbow surgery. One teammate says things are looking good so far.

Steelers running back James Conner was a guest on ESPN’s “NFL Live” Monday and raved about his quarterback.

“He looks great, the ball was whistling,” Conner said of Roethlisberger. “He’s confident. He works so hard to get back to where he’s playing confident. We’re just excited for him. That’s our guy. We’re just so thankful that we’ve got our quarterback. He has Super Bowl rings and that’s what we all want to do. He leads by example going out and organizing things. It’s been awesome to be back there with him.”

Conner also described Roethlisberger as a “winner” and said the Pittsburgh quarterback is focused on winning another Super Bowl.

“Every day that we’re around him, that we’re together, it just comes off that he’s a winner,” Conner said. “He wants another (Super Bowl ring), bad, before whenever he decides to hang it up. I hope it’s not for a while. He wants another one and I want to get one, too. That’s all that we talk about. That’s the only goal.”

Roethlisberger is 38 and under contract through 2021. Time is running out on him to win another Super Bowl before it might be time to retire. And coming off the arm injury, there is even more pressure for him to show he still has it.

Pittsburgh has one of the better defenses in the league and needs an offense to match. When he was healthy in 2018, Roethlisberger set career-high marks with 5,129 passing yards and 34 touchdown passes. He won Super Bowls with the Steelers in the 2005 and 2008 seasons.