PITTSBURGH — Everyone in town has an opinion on the Steelers' quarterback situation right now. And that includes the guy whose void Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett are looking to fill.
Ben Roethlisberger weighed in on the debate in the fourth episode of his new podcast, recorded Sunday and released Monday evening. And he thinks fans were a little too hard on Trubisky for his role in the Steelers' 17-14 loss to New England in the home opener at Acrisure Stadium.
"I just don't think that it's fair that it happened to Mitch today because I wouldn't blame Mitch for the performance today," he said. "I don't think he was bad. Did he miss a couple throws? Yes. Every quarterback ... I just saw Aaron Rodgers miss a throw and he's one of the greatest to ever play. It's going to happen sometimes."
Trubisky's stats were rather anemic on the afternoon: 21-of-33 passing for 168 yards, a touchdown, an interception and a passer rating of 73.8.
In the days since, he's faced a lot of external criticism for short throws and not looking to the middle of the field, where receivers have been open at times.
Some have seen those struggles as a reason the Steelers should pivot toward Pickett, the rookie out Pitt whom they drafted with their first-round pick this past spring. Roethlisberger, however, isn't backing that plan yet, despite the fact that he took over the job in the Steelers' second game his rookie year in 2004 because of an injury to starter Tommy Maddox.
"Did he play his best game? No. Did he play his worst game? I don't think so," Roethlisberger said. "I don't think that he deserved the fans getting on him today because sometimes you're playing within the system. And I'm not trying to say that it's on Matt Canada, either, but sometimes if he's looking down the field and no one's there, he's taking the check down.
"If you call a wide receiver screen, you're throwing the wide receiver screen. If it goes for minus-2 yards, that's not on the quarterback. That's not his fault that the screen goes for minus-2 yards. So I thought it was early, a little unfair to start booing."
Former Steelers running back and television analyst Merril Hoge was Roethlisberger's guest for this particular episode and he had a different perspective.
Having watched Trubisky since college, he argued that the performance was characteristic of his struggles during his first NFL stop in Chicago, when he often missed open receivers and failed to make explosive plays down field and in the red zone.
Hoge saw the same things Sunday and believes Trubisky needs to be more consistent to justify his playing time.
"Listen, I don't want him to fail, either," Hoge said. "Especially that he's in Pittsburgh now. I want to see him to better, I just ... I've not seen him get over that hump."
Differences about Trubisky aside, both men wanted to see the Steelers be more aggressive.
Their longest completed pass Sunday was a 23-yard play to rookie George Pickens in the waning seconds of the first half. Beyond that, it was 17 yards, and the old gunslinger in Roethlisberger simply wanted to see the offense take some chances.
"Go down the field. Take some shots down the field," he said. "Now whether that's play calling, whether that's Mitchell not throwing if it was called, I don't know, but I just kept sitting there like, 'Come on.' You've got to back a defense up. You've got to at least threaten them every once in a while. ... We're missing the explosive plays right now."
