Steelers' Cam Heyward defends Ben Roethlisberger

The last time fans saw Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger face a competitive defense, the future Hall of Famer tossed four interceptions in a home playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns in January.

Pittsburgh defensive lineman Cam Heyward heard and read comments from those who suggested Big Ben should have retired after that defeat and won't be having any of such talk. 

"When I hear the badmouthing about him being a not great quarterback and everybody is ready to elevate other quarterbacks, I'm like, what have they done?" Heyward said when speaking with reporters on Tuesday, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN. "This guy is a proven winner, but yet we're ready to discount him." 

Roethlisberger turned 39 years old in March and celebrated by agreeing to restructure his contract to offer the Steelers needed salary-cap space. He, Heyward and the rest of the squad will be looking to reclaim the form they enjoyed when they started the 2020 season with 11 straight wins. 

"I think we're just blowing it out of proportion," Heyward continued about criticisms directed toward his QB1. "The dude went 11-0 to start the season. How many other quarterbacks did that? I think we can sit up here and talk about we lost the game last year. We lost to the Cleveland Browns. Ok so be it. We fell off at the end, but we still made the playoffs.

"But I'm not here to say my quarterback's not able to do it. I've seen this guy win Super Bowls on TV. I've seen him day in and day out compete. You just get frustrated because I know Ben puts in work. I know how much he cares about this team."

Last week, Pro Football Focus analyst and former quarterback Bruce Gradkowski listed Roethlisberger No. 16 among starting signal-callers heading into organized team activities.