In a season filled with growing pains for a predominantly young Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line, another issue arose last week in a 36-28 loss at the Minnesota Vikings.

Communication was a problem — at least for nearly three quarters — as the Steelers fell behind by 29 points and couldn’t generate any offense while trying to deal with a boisterous indoor crowd at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Disruptions caused by the crowd noise made it difficult for the snap to get relayed to rookie center Kendrick Green. It also was a factor in Ben Roethlisberger getting sacked a season-high five times while also facing season highs with eight hurries and 14 pressures.

The five sacks against Roethlisberger were his highest total since 2014 when he was 32 years old and able to recover quicker from all that time being helped up off the turf.

“It’s been a while since I felt like that in days after a game,” Roethlisberger said Wednesday, six days after the road loss dropped the Steelers’ record to 6-6-1. “That’s football.”

In prior years, Roethlisberger had a veteran offensive line playing in front of him that was experienced at eliminating crowd noise as a distraction. When dealing with a noisy environment, Roethlisberger would relay the calls to left guard Ramon Foster, who would tap center Maurkice Pouncey on the leg when it was time for the ball to be snapped.

This year, Roethlisberger is relaying calls to a right guard in Trai Turner, who is in his first year with the organization. And Turner is giving the snap signal to a rookie center in Kendrick Green, who played guard in college. That could explain the sometimes-delayed, sometimes-hurried, off-the-mark snaps Green had against the Vikings.

Roethlisberger called the relay process a “telephone game.”

“It’s not an easy thing to do,” he said.

Chalk it up to another teaching moment for a line that, against the Vikings, had two rookie starters in addition to a left guard making his first NFL start on the field.

“It’s something we have to get shored up,” Turner said Wednesday. “I think we’re going to do a good job of that this week. It’s nothing to keep harping on. Just fix it, pound on it and get it hammered out.”

With the Steelers playing at home this weekend against the Tennessee Titans, communication shouldn’t be an issue for the line. It’s more likely the line will deal with it in two weeks when the Steelers visit Kansas City, arguably one of the loudest road venues in the NFL.

“It’s something we have to fix,” Turner said. “It was an issue. Everybody sees it. We see it.”

As the lone player on the offensive line with more than two years of NFL starting experience, Turner has taken on the role as mentor his younger teammates. He also is the only lineman with a Pro Bowl appearance, getting selected five times in his first seven seasons.

“It’s learning from mistakes,” he said. “It’s not using them as tools to harp on or get down on, but to use them as tools to grow on so it won’t happen again. We’ll learn from those circumstances. If you get a problem, fix that problem, get a new problem. Don’t have that same problem over and over again and let it become a continuous thing.”

The message, though, hasn’t always translated to the field. Case in point: when the Steelers played indoors against the Los Angeles Chargers in November, Roethlisberger was sacked three times and pressured 14. The following week, in another road loss, Roethlisberger was sacked three more times and faced 13 pressures by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Roethlisberger has been sacked 30 times this year, his highest total since that 2014 season when he was dropped 33 times. This has happened despite Roethlisberger getting rid of the football an average of 2.1 seconds per pass attempt, the fastest release time in the league.

“There are going to be situations,” Turner said. “It’s not perfect. Those guys across the ball are pretty good, too. The coaches and offensive line have done a good job of addressing the issues, attacking the issues when they come up, and we’re looking forward to getting better.”

Coach Mike Tomlin promised to turn over stones this week in order to fix the Steelers’ weaknesses, which includes an offensive line that was pushed around the Vikings defensive front. On the other hand, an offensive line needs repetition and continuity to build cohesion over a season. For the most part, the Steelers have used the same starters at four of the five positions up front.

“You don’t find continuity, you create it,” Turner said. “That comes with time. That comes with patience. That comes with reps. It comes with having the opportunity to have the same guys and continue to gel, continue to play.

“Right now, we’re adjusting.”

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