Pittsburgh Steelers: No Big Ben, no Brown, no problem at OTAs

As the Pittsburgh Steelers continue progressing towards the season, a few big names are missing from workouts, and that’s perfectly fine.

It’s the wonderful time of the year where football season is so close, yet so ever far away. OTAs (Offseason Team Activities) provide the typical football fan a small taste of their team back in action during what is a robustly dry news cycle. When the Pittsburgh Steelers took the field for activities, a handful of names were missing in action.

Not just any names, however. The trio of Ben Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown all were not present when practices got underway. Are Roethlisberger, Bell and Brown getting some quality big-three time together? Probably not. Bell is not attending due to an ongoing hold-out that will supposedly last until the first week of the season unless the Steelers are able to sign him to a new deal this summer.

The reasons for Brown and Roethlisberger being no-shows have yet to be revealed despite speculation Roethlisberger was on vacation, and Brown prefers to work with Roethlisberger exclusively. Whatever reason may be the right one, the fact remains some of the Steelers most important pieces to a championship are missing, and that’s okay.

To a certain degree, it’s reasonable to want everybody participating in team activities this time of year. With new blood in the locker room and the coaching staff, team chemistry is something of importance to build this time of year, especially with new offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner installing his offense.

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However, these days are not where championships are won and lost, and players such as Xavier Grimble conveyed to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

"“I know they are somewhere working. It’d be nice to have them, but at the same time, there are guys getting hurt (out here). It would suck for one of those guys to go down.”"

Injuries are indeed a part of the game, and can happen at any time. The Steelers found this out the hard way twice within the past week, when offensive lineman Jerald Hawkins and tight end Jake McGee both were put on injured reserve due to injuries during OTAs. There’s simply no viable need for Brown, Roethlisberger, or even Bell to be present at this time.

So long as they don’t pull an Eddie Lacy or Kelvin Benjamin and show up to camp overweight, there’s no need for Steelers fans to fret over the decision to skip OTAs, a choice fan-favorite Troy Polamalu made every season when he played. Where were the critics then? The absences also allow for players to gain additional reps they otherwise might not see, with the team in an off-season where they will need to make decisions in regards to the future of the quarterback/running back positions.

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These players are professionals and veterans in the game, the likes of Brown and Roethlisberger have earned the right to choose to not participate in OTA’s. By time training camp rolls around, this issue will have dissolved with every other headline you’ve read today. Both Brown and Roethlisberger attended the mandatory camp earlier this offseason, and those expectations will follow suit moving forward.