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On The Field: Ben Roethlisberger

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Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger spoke after Tuesday's OTA session:Was it good to see the turnout today?Yeah. I kind of expected it on day one. There were a lot of good things. It's good to be back out here.LB Larry Foote was talking about a different feel to this offseason. Do you think it has a different feel?I can judge off what it was like out here today. Obviously, I've been here the last couple of weeks when we've been doing things. It's good to see guys. It's definitely different because we've got a lot of new guys and new faces. I know the guys that are here are ready to rock and roll and the young guys are ready to contribute.Does it feel different for you being the veteran mentor in the quarterback room? Will it be different for you taking on that role?I'm excited to be that guy that is a leader for those guys. I'm going to do everything I can to help those guys get ready to play because I'm here to win games. We've had other guys step up and play and win games for us in the past. I'm excited to help these guys be ready to go if need be.What kind of adjustments will you have to make without WR Mike Wallace? How do you like the receiving corps as it is right now?Obviously, we're going to miss Mike as a person, friend and teammate. We have to be ready to move on. We've got a lot of young guys and we've got some guys that are back. We've got a good mixture of people in that room that are going to be ready to go. We're excited to get moving. We haven't really had a chance to do one-on-one's and get out here and do stuff. Day one is a good one.Is it still quality depth at the wide receiver position?We have to see who is on the roster when the day comes to get ready to line up for the game one. Like I said, I like the guys we have. We've got a lot of great veteran guys with Emmanuel [Sanders], Plaxico [Burress], [Antonio Brown] and [Jerricho] Cotchery. We'll see what happens as we move forward.Do you feel different now that you are in year two in this offense?Yeah, a little bit. There's a little more comfort. There has been some changes this offseason in some of the offensive philosophies, playbook and some things that I think are good. It's some compromise from all different position coaches, running back coaches, line, and quarterback coaches. I think we've taken a little bit of everything and made it a lot better. You can ask anybody on offense that, including coaches, and they'll tell you that we all like the way the offense is and where it's going.In what way is different?You'll have to wait and see. We can't tell. You'll have to wait until the first game. It's like the preview of a movie.Were some of the changes suggestions that you made to offensive coordinator Todd Haley?All of us, it's not just me. I know that Kirby [Wilson] and Randy [Fichtner] and guys that really wanted to contribute and get some points and some things across that they felt could help this team. We all did. It was nothing about, "Let's change this offense." It was about "How can we get better?" We're making strides to be better.Was there one thing that you thought needed to be changed or altered?There were some things. [Laughs]Are you guys past the talk of locker room leadership issues that surfaced this offseason?We were way beyond it before you guys even started talking about it. We still don't know who is going to be in the locker room. The Steelers locker room is not complete yet. We don't know who it is. When that day comes and we have everybody in there, then we can answer those questions better.When the media was in the locker room last year, the atmosphere seemed to be the same as it had always been.**That's why it was confusing to a lot of us, where those comments came from. That's why we just kind of laughed it off and said we'll move on.

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