Ben Roethlisberger impresses Steelers' Mike Tomlin with his 'velocity' in early throwing sessions

For the first time since his franchise quarterback shredded his elbow nearly 11 months ago, coach Mike Tomlin watched Ben Roethlisberger throw passes at Heinz Field.

Roethlisberger tossed to teammates Monday, Tuesday and Thursday in the strength and conditioning portion of training camp that is taking place at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ home venue.

Tomlin’s thoughts on Big Ben’s progress from right elbow surgery?

“I didn’t see anything that was alarming in any way,” Tomlin said Thursday morning in a video conference call. “His velocity is excellent. Maybe his spiral could be a little tighter. I’ve seen it tighter, but nothing to alarm you in any way.”

On Thursday, the Steelers posted video of Roethlisberger throwing passes to Diontae Johnson, Anthony McFarland and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

The workouts were the first for Roethlisberger under the supervision of the training and coaching staff since he had three tendons reattached in his right elbow in September.

“We’re going to proceed and proceed appropriately with him to have him ready to go when we step into a stadium,” Tomlin said.

Mason Rudolph, the Steelers backup quarterback, also is returning from surgery. He sustained a severe shoulder dislocation in Week 16 against the New York Jets, a hit that ended the second-year quarterback’s season.

Rudolph had his development slowed when he missed a game because of a concussion. He also was replaced by Devlin “Duck” Hodges at halftime of the Steelers’ game at Cincinnati in Week 12. The benching happened one game after Rudolph was hit on his unprotected head by a swinging helmet courtesy of Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett.

Rudolph went 5-3 as a starter and was anointed by Tomlin as Roethlisberger’s backup for 2020 after the Steelers concluded their 8-8 season.

“We’re looking forward to him taking a significant step this year,” Tomlin said. “I think that’s a reasonable thing as he continues to mature not only through the time spent with us, but through experience and exposure. He’s got some in-game exposure.”

Without the benefit of preseason games this season because of the pandemic, Rudolph won’t get the type of game activity that typically goes to the Steelers backup quarterback in August. His 43 passing attempts last summer in the preseason were the most of the four quarterbacks on the training camp roster.

“It’s going to be an issue for him not to get those quality preseason snaps that are so valuable for a young, developing quarterback,” Tomlin said. “But all the young, developing quarterbacks have to deal with those circumstances this year.”

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