The primary focus of his conversation was on the development of the new offense that Todd Haley is installing. Steelers Nation will be pleased to know that Roethlisberger is taking well to the new offense and thinks highly of it.

The other piece of news to come out of the interview was far less encouraging.

Roethlisberger admitted, for the first time, he suffered a torn rotator cuff in the Steelers November loss to the Baltimore Ravens. (This admission adds further irony to the loss, because the game was arguably the offensive line’s best outing of the season.)

Big Ben insists that the injury no longer causes him problems and that he does not expect it to be an issue in the coming season.

Such confidence in the face of injury is admirable, but  rotator cuff injuries are nothing to make light of, particularly if you’re a quarterback. Roethlisberger insisted that the injury did not impact his play late last year, but that assertion is dubious.

Aside form the fall off in offensive performance, Behind the Steel Curtain’s Neal Coolong noted that he saw a significant drop in Roethlisberger’s arm strength.

Tribune-Review Steelers beat writer Alan Robinson downplayed the severity of the injury observing:

A lower-grade rotator cuff tear usually does not require surgery, only rehabilitation. An injury common to athletes, it is more like inflammation, and the shoulder often returns to normal function without surgery.

Ben Roethlisberger, while helping redefine the concept of “tough” for his willingness and ability to play with injuries is also noted as being some what of a drama queen.

Nonetheless “rotator cuff” and “quarterback” are two words which you never want to see in the same sentence….