Randy Fichtner awaits chance to watch Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger test injured elbow

As he prepares for a training camp unlike any in NFL history, Randy Fichtner can be forgiven for seeking a return to simpler times when covid-19 didn’t alter the landscape of how the Pittsburgh Steelers conduct practices.

He takes comfort in knowing he sees a familiar face lined up behind the center.

“Normalcy now becomes Ben Roethlisberger back in the huddle,” Fichtner, the third-year offensive coordinator, said Wednesday in a video conference call with reporters.

Fichtner didn’t have Roethlisberger at the ready since the second game of last season when the franchise quarterback suffered a season-ending elbow injury against the Seattle Seahawks. The Steelers struggled passing the ball in Roethlisberger’s absence, finishing No. 31 in passing yards en route to an 8-8 record.

Presumably fully healthy, Roethlisberger will take snaps when the Steelers are permitted to put on pads Aug. 17. Still, Fichtner won’t have to wait that long to see what kind of zip Roethlisberger has on his passes since beginning a throwing program in February.

Fichtner said Roethlisberger was scheduled to throw passes Wednesday at Heinz Field, site of the team’s makeshift training camp.

“I did not get to see him in the offseason,” Fichtner said. “I caught glimpses of video like everybody did. I did see him throw on video, and I have seen him now that quarterbacks are allowed to be in the building. I’ve seen him physically, and we have had some good conversations. I believe he is getting ready today to go out and throw.

“It will be exciting to see that.”

Earlier in the summer, Roethlisberger conducted impromptu throwing sessions with running back James Conner and receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Ryan Switzer. Because of NFL rules pertaining to the acclimation period in the ramp-up to training camp, there are limits of what players can do at this early stage of camp.

Rookies and veterans are scheduled for covid-19 testing and physicals this week. On-field conditioning isn’t scheduled to begin until Monday, but Roethlisberger getting some light work on the field Wednesday likely won’t stir up a fuss in league offices.

The bigger issue is how much work Roethlisberger will get when players are permitted to don pads. Teams can have just 14 padded practices until the regular season begins in September. And, of course, all preseason games have been canceled, which will keep Roethlisberger from shaking off any rust in a game setting.

“We’ll have to take advantage of the game situations we can present for him against our defense,” Fichtner said. “Naturally, the first thing is to get a feel for where he’s at. His body and his arm will tell us.”

Doubling as the team’s quarterback coach, Fichtner installed a system in 2019 designed around Roethlisberger’s strengths. That plan was scrapped after the elbow injury, with Fichtner trimming the playbook to fit the styles of Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges.

After having the best red-zone touchdown percentage in the NFL in 2018, the Steelers dropped to last, getting touchdowns on 35% of their opportunities.

Although he has shed quarterback coaching duties to Matt Canada, Fichtner can build upon what was installed for Roethlisberger last summer.

“What Ben brings to the table is so unique,” Fichtner said. “The experience he has in the red zone, which we so sorely missed last year, obviously, with the young quarterbacks. He has so many in-helmet perspectives. You’re not going to fool him. He’s going to throw a touchdown where you say, ‘Wow.’

“That’s what those experienced, top-flight, best quarterbacks in the league do. His abilities on third down, that’s the experience. That’s the thing you can’t put a value on that he brings to the table.”

In previous training camps, Roethlisberger’s regimen was a full day of practice followed by a half day and then a complete day off.

“It’s a little different routine and a little different kind of camp,” Fichtner said. “We’ll have to play that by ear by how he feels and how much he wants. There’s time when he wants it all, and we have to back him off, and that’s a good thing.”