On The Field with Ben Roethlisberger

How did it feel out there today?Good, It felt real good. It was good to get out on the practice field, get some work in and get back to doing what we love to do.How disruptive was the weather?It's day one and we had the rain. We go in for a little rain delay and come back it out. Coach [Terry] Hoeppner, my college coach, used to say, 'Have a plan, work the plan and plan for the unexpected.' So, we come back out here, change fields, change shoes and get back to it. Do you feel like you can do everything you want to do right now?Sure.You're not limited in any way?I don't think so.You said that you feel like you're in better shape. Is that true?I feel great, yes. No discomfort in my knee that I've had for the last couple years.What did you change up in your workouts?A lot of things. We don't have enough time to talk about it all.Re: Rookie WR Markus Wheaton:He looked good. Obviously, at times, he looks like a rookie. There are some things that I try and help him with and that I know the receivers are helping him with. If I see something I try and talk to him about what I expect from him. I think he looked really good. I think he had his typical first day jitters, but I see a lot of promise in him. The receivers seem confident in their deep threat ability. Should we be just as confident?Sure, I am.Re: Discomfort in the right knee:Getting old. [Laughs] No, it feels great. Like I said, it was all about coming out here today and getting on the field and seeing what it felt like taking a drop, hitting the fifth step and letting the ball go. It felt good, so I was happy.How have you changed as a leader over the years?I'm trying to take over. Instead of just being an offensive leader, trying to be a leader of the team. I think it's important that we have other guys on offense take control of offensive leadership. Maurkice Pouncey, Heath Miller, guys that are great for the job. I'm just going to keep trying to step up as a team leader as well.Is it a more difficult thing to do, or is it a natural progression?No, it's fun. It's fun, especially when you get a bunch of young guys in here that are a bunch of good, young kids. It's fun to help them in any way I can, the same way I was helped by guys like Jerome Bettis.Does anything need to be changed up during camp after how last year went?Hopefully we'll all make it out healthy. Without TE Heath Miller in the lineup and losing WR Mike Wallace, is there a different kind of feeling with the receiving group?We still have a lot of the other guys back. We got to keep those guys around and we got a couple young guys that are going to get into the mix a little bit. It's going to be fun to see the dynamic of that new group. We're obviously going to miss Mike because you always miss your teammates when they leave. I think when Heath gets back we'll be ready for him. This is a good time now because it gives other tight ends a chance to get some work in and get some repetition with me and the other quarterbacks. So, I think it's a good thing, if you will, that Heath is getting better right now.