Ben Roethlisberger said he's getting some family assistance while learning the Pittsburgh Steelers' new offense.
During his first day at Steelers training camp earlier this week, the two-time Super Bowl champion told reporters his 7-year-old daughter Baylee is helping him learn in a unique way.
"My daughter makes flashcards for me," Roethlisberger said. "We've done that, we've made them together and there have been some quizzes at home. It's become as much of a mental offseason as it has physical in terms of learning new things. … It's a high percentage of new. It's a challenge."
Last month, Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada made it clear that the offense will run through Big Ben, despite changes to this year's playbook, which he said is tooled around the 18-year veteran's strengths.
"I think in football, it is 11 men doing their job, but the quarterback is their focal point," Canada said Tuesday from minicamp, via the Associated Press. "We are going to do what Ben wants to do and how Ben wants to do it. Our job is putting every player in a position to make plays."
Canada was promoted this offseason after Pittsburgh chose not to renew Randy Fichtner's contract amid offensive struggles in 2020.
The former LSU and Maryland offensive coordinator is expected to implement more pre-snap motion, jet sweeps, and up-tempo plays than previous Steelers coordinators, but Canada said he is tweaking his offense to fit to the 39-year-old quarterback.
Roethlisberger said his arm "feels a lot fresher" than it did this time last summer and is optimistic heading into his 18th season.
"This time last year, I had thrown thousands of footballs trying to get ready for this," he said. "Today was the first day I had a ball thrown since minicamp, other than throwing to my son in the backyard. It just feels more normal of an offseason. My arm feels really, really good."
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