Roethlisberger getting ready for prime time
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Ben Roethlisberger: "... as you get to a certain point, a certain age in this football thing, your body doesn't recover like it used to."
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Ben Roethlisberger already has adjusted his game, and it has nothing to do with old or new coordinators, old or new offenses, things Art Rooney did or did not say.
It has plenty to do with his 30th birthday March 2.
"That's why I'm working out already," Roethlisberger said.
He began training at the Steelers facility on the South Side last week, days after he returned from an extended Pro Bowl stay in Hawaii. He talked to coach Mike Tomlin about where he is in his career and about the future.
"When I talked to Mike, I said I don't know how much longer I have to play, no one does; it could be two years, three years, it could be eight years. Who knows?" Roethlisberger said during an extensive interview Thursday.
"I'm hoping that I'm just starting in my prime. I've already been working out with [Garrett Giemont], our strength coach, already. I've never worked out this early. It's not like high-intensity, out killing myself, but I'm working out, I want to come to camp lighter than I've ever come, in better shape, because as you get to a certain point, a certain age in this football thing, your body doesn't recover like it used to."
Roethlisberger sustained a number of injuries in 2011, including those to his foot and right shoulder as well as a broken right thumb and high left ankle sprain. He said his ankle feels fine, but he is working on healing his right shoulder, which needs to be strengthened because of the injury.
"I'm just waiting on my shoulder, it's the only thing left to get healed up," Roethlisbeger said. "That's the last thing."
But it was his ankle sprain that may have cost the Steelers most dearly. Roethlisberger played in the next game 11 days after the injury occurred against Cleveland Dec. 8, and the Steelers lost at San Francisco, 20-3. That cost them the No. 1 playoff seed in the AFC.
First Published February 15, 2012 12:00 am
