Ben Roethlisberger doesn't regret weighing in on Antonio Brown's sideline antics in Sunday's win, saying Wednesday it's his responsibility as a Pittsburgh Steelers leader to speak up on such occasions.
"I like to think as a leader of this team, it's kind of my job," Roethlisberger said, via Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "You have to be able to talk to people and communicate in different ways."
On Tuesday, both Big Ben and coach Mike Tomlin discussed Brown's Gatorade jug flip. The quarterback said "it's unfortunate that he acted and reacted that way." Brown apologized Wednesday on Twitter for being a distraction.
Roethlisberger declined to say Wednesday whether he spoke to Brown one-on-one about the situation but believes the All-Pro receiver got the message.
"I'm sure," he said. "He's professional. He's probably the best wide receiver in the game."
Brown's sideline tantrum came after Roethlisberger missed the wide-open receiver early in the game. Big Ben said he can't approach games worried about keeping all his weapons happy.
"As a captain and quarterback, you have the ball in your hand every play, so you have to take all of those things into account," Roethlisberger said. "But you have to be careful not to, because we've got so many weapons, try to make everyone happy. You have to be able to go out and win football games. That is our first priority."
After spending the past two days discussing an incident that had no bearing on their victory, Roethlisberger would like the Steelers to move on from the matter.
"We're over it now," he said. "We've moved on to Jacksonville. Wednesday is [the start of] Jacksonville week. ... We don't have time to think about anything else right now."
