Why Mike Tomlin Found Ben Roethlisberger-Steelers Report Funny

Ben Roethlisberger helping lead the underachieving Pittsburgh Steelers to a last-second win over the Baltimore Ravens came amid reports that this season is his Steelers swan song.

Roethlisberger will be 40 next season. His contract is up after this campaign, and injuries and age have made his usefulness under center plummet the last few seasons. It came as little surprise, then, that ESPN reported over the weekend Big Ben was likely done with the Steelers after this season.

That’s the type of news that could cause a stir in the locker room. But for head coach Mike Tomlin, it just got a laugh out of him.

“Ben doesn’t allow it to become an issue,” Tomlin told reporters after beating the Ravens, via ProFootballTalk. “Ben has been pretty solid in terms of his expressions that he’s singularly focused on what we’re doing now. He’ll deal with those things on the other side of his journey, and I’m with him on it. So it’s not a distraction. I thought it was funny that it was seemingly a story this weekend, to be honest with you.”

The 6-5-1 Steelers are in the playoff hunt, but they need a strong finish in order to make the postseason. Maybe Roethlisberger can pull a rabbit out of his hat before calling it quits in Pittsburgh.