Ben Roethlisberger and a crafty group of offensive players held workouts earlier this offseason, the Steelers quarterback revealed at his annual football camp in Pennsylvania on Monday.
"It's going great. We've worked out, linemen, running backs, tight ends, everybody. All of the offense," Roethlisberger told thePittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It's gone really well. We've had some good progress, just to kind of refresh people's memories on audible calls or no-huddle calls, little things like that."
While other teams have made no secret about where and when their players-only workouts would be held during this unusual offseason, the Steelers chose to cast a much lower profile.
Roethlisberger, set to enter his eighth season as starter and free of the off-the-field issues of a year ago, liked keeping the efforts of he and teammates quiet.
"That's kind of how I am. To me, it's not about letting the world know we're doing it. As long as we know we're doing and we're doing it, that's all that matters," he said. "That's just how we operate and how I operate. I've gotten some letters from people, I've heard some things like, 'Why aren't you working out?' Well, we are working out. We've probably worked out more than most teams. It's just that we choose to keep it quiet."
Roethlisberger has sympathy for rookies, who he feels will be put in a difficult position of learning playbooks and NFL life at a highly accelerated pace.
"It's tough, especially the guys who weren't drafted because they're going to come in the first day of training camp and it's like 'here you go,' " he said. "I feel really bad for those guys because it's going to be really hard. We're fortunate that we don't really need anyone right now to come and fill in and play an important [starting] position. That helps us in a way, but I do feel bad for those guys because it's going to be tough for them."
Also attending Roethlisberger's camp was wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, the second-year player who is coming off surgery on both feet. Sanders has been working out with his own trainer and said he'll be running at full speed in two weeks. His goal is to be ready by the scheduled start of training camp.
Sanders said Roethlisberger has been sending out group text messages informing players of workout dates. The wideout said there have been three workouts to date.
"It was good to get back out there and see the guys, communicate and be in the huddle with Ben and running plays," Sanders said. "It's too bad we can't do it right now, that we can't have OTAs, but I'm looking forward to the season and this thing ending."
