The lasting memory of Ben Roethlisberger’s previous game at Heinz Field was of him sitting on the bench with Maurkice Pouncey, the two teammates soaking in the bitter disappointment of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 48-37 loss to the Cleveland Browns in an AFC wild-card game.

Pouncey retired a month later. Roethlisberger briefly considered it before deciding to return for an 18th NFL season.

Seven months later, Roethlisberger gets his next opportunity to play at his home stadium. He will start Saturday night when the Steelers play the Detroit Lions in their third preseason game. Unlike the playoff loss in January, when covid restrictions limited the crowd to friends and family, Roethlisberger will get to play in front of thousands of fans.

“This place is special. These fans are special,” Roethlisberger said. “They are the best fans in all of sports, not just the NFL. It would have been really hard to walk away and not be able to play in front of them. Almost half of my adult life I’ve spent playing football in front of them.

“They mean the world to me, so I want to give them everything I have.”

For this game, which will mark Roethlisberger’s preseason debut, his playing time will be limited to a few series and most likely won’t encompass the entire first half.

“I would love to get as many reps as I can,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s been how many months since I’ve stepped on a football field to take a hit or have been able to take meaningful reps.”

Roethlisberger wanted to play a week ago at Philadelphia, which would have marked the first time since 2015 that he didn’t wait until the third preseason game to get his first start. His thinking was that the Steelers were on the road and it would have been a chance to deal with crowd noise, something that was restricted last year because of the pandemic. That was important for Roethlisberger given that the Steelers open the season Sept. 12 at Buffalo.

Coach Mike Tomlin didn’t agree.

“I couldn’t talk him into it,” Roethlisberger said.

In any other year, Tomlin might have been inclined to hold Roethlisberger out of game activity until the regular season. It’s a path that Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers has taken in recent years.

“If he was in the same system of offense that he’d been in, he probably wouldn’t play,” Tomlin said. “We’ve taken that approach in the past, but we think it’s good for him to get in the stadium and communicate with Matt (Canada) and do some of the things that the quarterback has to do from a dry-run perspective.”

Roethlisberger agreed that he didn’t want to delay a chance to run Canada’s offensive scheme, which is heavy on pre-snap motion, until the regular season. Against the Lions, Roethlisberger will see how well he has grasped Canada’s system following three weeks of training camp practices.

The biggest challenge, Roethlisberger said, has been the “newness.”

“I’ve spent a lot of time at home going over it, reading it, watching film,” he said. “I was telling my wife the other night that maybe it’s better there is some new stuff because it refocuses you in a way. If this was still the same stuff, I’d probably go home and watch film and be ready to move on. Last night, I went home, watched film and went back over everything again to refresh my mind.

“Because it’s different, I want to make sure I’m not the reason we struggle.”

The game also will be Roethlisberger’s first chance to work with rookie center Kendrick Green in particular and the revamped offensive line in general. If right tackle Zach Banner is healthy and starts, it will mark the first appearance together for all five projected starting linemen in a game.

“I’m excited for them,” Roethlisberger said. “There’s a lot of continuity they need to develop together. To be successful, they have to feel comfortable with each other. It will be good for them to get on the field together, to work and to see how this group works moving forward.”

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