Ben Roethlisberger doesn't hold back when discussing his teammates' performances.
Earlier in the season, following the Steelers 24-17 loss to the Broncos, Roethlisberger put the magnifying glass on rookie wide receiver James Washington post-game, a decision that stirred up plenty of criticism from fans and media alike.
"He has to make (the catch),” Roethlisberger told 93.7 The Fan via Trib Live. “I just think he didn’t trust his hands. For some reason, he jump/dove. I’m not really sure what he was doing. We look at it (on film), and coach got on him pretty good yesterday.
“We took a long, hard look at it. James needs to run through that, and it’s a touchdown.”
Here's the play in question:
Would have been INSANE. pic.twitter.com/d8w93oixoc
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) November 25, 2018
After being held out of the team's next game vs. the Chargers, Washington responded with two catches for 11 yards against the Raiders, including a tough catch-and-lateral to set up the team's potential game-tying field goal attempt.
While the stat line looks modest on paper, Roethlisberger is impressed.
“(Washington's response has been) awesome," Roethlisberger told reporters Wednesday at the Rooney Complex. "I really think he made some plays for us. There’s a couple things, I think when we watched them on film that he would even say he could probably improve on.
"But we all have those moments. We just grade it ourselves, and there were a lot of minuses on my sheet, but I thought that he answered the challenge — especially that last play. What he had to do to make it was pretty cool.”