Ben Roethlisberger and Markus Wheaton may have had a hard time hooking up in Cleveland, but they've been getting together with regularity ever since.
"Markus came in early (Wednesday) morning and came in our quarterback room and we watched more film together," Roethlisberger reported. "I think that speaks volumes about him wanting to get in there, wanting to learn (and) to be corrected.
"There are some things that we ironed out."
There were some things that needed to be addressed after 11 Roethlisberger-to-Wheaton targets resulted in only four catches for 33 yards in Sunday's 31-10 loss to the Browns.
"I broke down every single pass play that he did and told him what I expected and what I thought he did right or wrong," Roethlisberger continued. "He's the type of guy who's going to take that and make him better.
"I have all the confidence in the world that Markus will come out and be better than ever."
Wheaton welcomed the opportunity to dissect elements of his game with Roethlisberger in a one-on-one, quarterback-to-receiver setting.
"It's huge," Wheaton said. "He taught me a couple things I should have known already. It's just a lot of little things. He came to me a lot the last game and I think the little things we talked about could have made each situation better. When we watched film we saw those little things and we fixed them to make sure they won't happen again."
Added Roethlisberger, "When you come to the NFL, the ball (and) everything happens faster. He's getting used to turning around. In college you can kind of wait for a receiver to come out of the break before you throw it. Here you have to throw it before they come out of their break. He's working hard at making sure he gets his proper depth, gets his head around, gets his hands around with his head and makes the play. I know he will."
The Steelers are counting on as much from Wheaton.
"He's got to do a better job," Coach Mike Tomlin said. "When you're playing Cleveland and they're defending (wide receiver) Antonio (Brown) with multiple people, it usually creates opportunities for the other guy, whoever the other guy is who's not Antonio."
Wheaton is well aware there will be opportunities for him as long as he's playing opposite Brown.
"There were (those opportunities) last game, but I didn't come through," Wheaton said. "Hopefully with the work we continue to put in I will the next game.
"It's football, you're going to have ups and downs. All I can do is keep working, and that's what I'm going to do."
