Kovacevic: Nothing matters like an invested, invigorated Roethlisberger

"He's always asking questions 24-7. The guy's been in the league 17 years, and he's been asking questions the whole time."

This was JuJu Smith-Schuster, when asked Wednesday after the Steelers' eighth day of OTAs on the South Side, how he knows Ben Roethlisberger's been locked in for these sessions.

"I'm in my fourth year," JuJu continued. "To have to learn a whole new offense in your 17th year, it's way tougher. For myself, I have a lot of questions but he has a ton too."

Yeah. Makes sense.

And so does this: Ben's been behaving, since the start of this calendar year, as if all of this is being undertaken with a singular, pointed purpose.

Want to learn more?

Well, I'd love to detail everything I witnessed here on this day. The whole experience. All the drills I saw from the balcony perch assigned to the media. All the discussions I overheard. All the times one player would stroll by, look up and say to no one in particular, 'Question mark? Question mark?' presumably to, uh, question being labeled a question mark at his position by one of the assembled reporters.

Above all, I'd absolutely love to share the little lessons I learned from a rather prominent figure in our city's sports community who was watching with me.

But that's not how this works, as the most ardent football fans already know. Rather, because of agreements reached between the NFL and the Pro Football Writers of America, we get access to practices and other team functions in exchange for committing not to describe plays, personnel usage, participation, and it's so specific that it's stipulated no audio can be recorded while quarterbacks are engaged in cadence.

The only observations we're permitted to report are those we can confirm from a coach or player, or anything that gets distributed by the team itself such as pool photos, videos, etc.

So, look, I'm going to give this a try. Because I've just got to find a way to fairly, accurately -- and yeah, NFL-legally -- to portray what's going on with the franchise player here. It's just too important and, beyond that, way too impressive for anything less.

OK, let's start with this: Ben's arm looks great. And I've had that fully confirmed by his teammates, the man himself -- "It feels really good," he spoke on a call with us last week -- as well as team-issued video.

Not with my own eyes. No, sir.

I can also safely relay that he's been here, a full participant in these wholly voluntary OTAs, far more often than not. As in, at least six of the eight days to date. As in, more than double what he used to do with these things. And that's easily confirmed by his presence in the team's photos that are distributed a few hours after each session.

Not because I or anyone else at DK Pittsburgh Sports has kept regular tabs on who is or isn't here. Nope.

Less tangibly, I'm comfortable describing that he's done a lot more than show his face. He's been intensely involved in every area. The images serve as indisputable proof of all the actual passing he's done, most of it in team-level drills accompanied by no small amount of effort:

Same goes for the extra time he's spent getting to know the rookie class, chiefly with his new running back and potential new center:

And getting to know the new plan and new coaches:

One gets the -- ahem! -- picture, right?

Why's Ben doing this?

Why go this far above and beyond his own bar, and this after accepting -- or, to hear him tell it, initiating -- a pay cut of $5 million in actual money?

The answer, as I'd been told in the weeks and months following his grisly performance in the playoff loss to the Browns, was that he couldn't fathom walking off Heinz Field a final time in such a fashion. And that was supported in his call a week ago when he acknowledged, "I didn’t play well enough at the end of the season. It’s not a secret. And I’ll be the first to point the thumb at myself. When the ball is in your hand every play, you have to make plays and play better football. If the quarterback, myself, isn’t playing good football, especially late in the season, that's the difference between winning and losing. I'll take that playoff and those games on me."

As for why that might've happened, he'd say, "Just feeling worn down and not playing good enough football at the end of the season."

There it is. Nothing to overthink.

Really, add it all up:

• Until now, it always felt like he'd be around forever. But he turned 39 in early March. After the coming season, he'll be 40. Anyone can look to Tom Brady as Exhibit A for executing at a championship level into their 40s, but then, anyone can also accept that there's only one Brady. Almost all of the rest, like now Drew Brees and draft-mate Phillip Rivers, either draw the line or have the line drawn for them at this very stage. Couple that with the pay cut and management's very real threat to pull the plug if he didn't fit the team's payroll, and his career's never felt closer to the finish line.

• Until now, he never faced a firm challenge as far as fitness. But by admitting being "worn down," he's tacitly recognizing, I think, not only the extra challenge at his age but also the 17th game on the 2021 schedule. Thus, he's here. As he allowed a week ago, "I’m in town, so I might as well be here," referring to suburban Pittsburgh being his year-round residence. There's also an extra push from training under the auspices of coaches and teammates. That's human nature. Even James Harrison sought an audience and accountability.

• Until now, he could count on familiar trusted faces on his line of scrimmage. But Maurkice Pouncey's gone, and only David DeCastro's cemented for starting duty entering Latrobe. As Ben put it, "It's important just to get some relationship with them, just letting guys see you."

• Until now, he also could count on a playbook he could probably recite in several languages. But Matt Canada's brought new components and, with that, new terminology, as JuJu referenced in the opening quote of this column. Hence, the inquisitiveness he's shown on the field here and, in turn, the time he's taken to ensure everyone else is then on the same page, too.

• Until now, he might also have felt a little too cozy with his wide receivers. That came right from the mouth of Canada's predecessor, Randy Fichtner, late last season, and I'm still stunned it didn't generate more of a buzz among the Nation at the time. Fichtner was fingering the franchise quarterback for not partaking in enough offseason work and, then, for being rested through too many in-season practices. Now, whether or not Fichtner was right -- let history further note that Fichtner was the one who got fired -- there's no way a coordinator goes public with something like that unless he's hearing it right from the receivers themselves.

• Until now, he'd never had to help rebuild a running game from a No. 32 rank in a No. 32 league. But here he is, with Art Rooney II declaring "a commitment to the run" as the team's top priority in 2021, and with the even greater commitment of a first-round pick to Najee Harris, and he's got zero choice but to make that work within his offense. No abandoning the run by the second quarter. No casual dismissal via RPO calls. He's got to engineer it. And to do that, he's first got to believe in both Harris and the schemes being set.

• Until now, he'd never had to recover from a major surgery to his arm, as he did in 2020. So when he was asked a week ago why he struggled -- or refused -- to throw the deep ball last season, he initially replied, "I had total reconstruction on my elbow, that might have something to do with it," then immediately amended, "But no excuses." Well, which was it? I'm betting on the former.

• Oh, and don't underestimate this one: Until now, he'd never been doubted or denigrated within the football world -- media and fandom alike -- the way he's undoubtedly hearing, reading and seeing these days. It's not just that he might be too old or too hurt anymore. It's that, as now gets commonly tossed around, he might be the AFC North's worst quarterback behind Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, even Baker Mayfield. He confessed to that count a week ago, as well, saying, "I think anybody who's told they can’t do something, they're going to be motivated to go prove people wrong."

It all seems to point down the same path, doesn't it?

He could've cut this off with his best bud Maurkice. No one would've begrudged him. Nothing about his career would've been diminished, at least not once time healed that specific wound. He'd still be bound for Canton. He'd still be one of the greatest athletes in our city's rich sporting history.

That clearly wouldn't do, though. So he's back for more. Maybe just one more.

Might as well put the best foot forward.

I'll be sure to confirm with the proper authorities if and when that happens.