Ben Roethlisberger’s Thrown a Lot of Picks; But He’s Not Worried About It

Ben Roethlisberger makes no apologies for his 12 interceptions, tied with Ryan Fitzpatrick for second most in the NFL, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports.

“Sometimes those things happen. I’m a quarterback that is going to go out and sling it,” Roethlisberger said on his weekly radio show Tuesday. “You talk about gunslinger or whatever you want to talk about. I’m not going to worry about interceptions. I hate doing them. They bother me. But I’m going to go out and play my game and try to help us win football games.”

Coach Mike Tomlin said he’s concerned with his team’s minus-7 turnover ratio the past two weeks but not with Roethlisberger’s decision-making.

“Ben is just part of it. He’s not solely responsible for our inability to maintain possession of the ball,” Tomlin said. “He wasn’t carrying the ball into the end zone and fumbling it for a touchback. He just needs to continue to be thoughtful about the preservation of the ball, like he always is, and understand the responsibility that comes with being our signal-caller. I don’t see any issues in that area. But us, collectively, need to do a better job.”

“You can’t get caught up in the numbers and the stats,” Roethlisberger said.