Ben Roethlisberger is not the biggest fan of the media these days. First the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback had to deal with constant trade rumors circulating around his name after many assumed he was looking to jump ship after back-to-back struggling seasons. Now, he is dealing with reports that he and offensive coordinator Todd Haley do not get along. Instead of directly answering the question of a reported riff, Roethlisberger opted to rant on the media instead.
Roethlisberger is annoyed that his comment regarding the offensive plan against the Miami Dolphins were taken as a dig against Haley. Roethlisberger admits that he was frustrated by the 22-20 loss, but is stressing he in no way has an issue with his offensive coordinator.
"It's unbelievable," Roethlisberger said, via 93.7 The Fan. "It gets blown up and it's by reporters that come in there and ask the dumbest questions after a game, and it makes it ridiculous when they only take part of your answer. It was taken way out of context. There is absolutely no issue between Coach Haley and I. I love where this offense is right now."
Roethlisberger and Haley clearly had some differences of option in his first season with the Steelers. After the slow start this year and sly off-hand remarks by the quarterback, it sounds like their relationship has not improved with time. Statistically, Roethlisberger is having one of his best seasons of his career, but the dynamic between he and Haley has made the offense appear flat and inconsistent at times. After the Miami loss, Roethlisberger told reports he had no clue what the team go away from what was working and they should go ask Haley for an explanation
"They take one little blurb of a whole sentence and it was not directed at Coach Haley, like 'Go ask him, I don't know why we didn't do it,'" Roethlisberger said. "It was, 'He's our coordinator, if you want to ask questions about play calling, go ask him about it. He's the guy that calls the plays. If you want to ask me about the no-huddle and I'm calling [plays], then you can ask me.' But in no way shape or form was the [comment] directed negatively at him. I think the offense is as good as it's been in a long time. We've got guys doing some great things."
Ranting on the matter does not really help the quarterback's case. It is pretty clear he is frustrated with the direction of the team at the moment. In the first half against Miami, Pittsburgh ran the ball extremely well. In the second half, the pass became the focus and the Steelers failed to move the ball. But do not take that out of context, Roethlisberger says all is good.
