For a second week in a row, Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been nominated for the FedEx Air Player of the Week award for Week 10.
Roethlisberger, who came off the bench Sunday in the first quarter to replace injured starter Landry Jones, threw for 379 yards and three touchdowns in the Steelers 30-9 win at Heinz Field over the Cleveland Browns.
Last week, Roethlisberger was beaten out for the award by Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota even though he threw for 334 yards and two touchdowns in the Steelers’ 38-35 victory against the Oakland Raiders.
Sunday against the Browns, not only did Roethlisberger set an NFL record for the most passing yards ever by a quarterback in a game in which he did not start, he also passed former NFL quarterback Kerry Collins for 13th place on the league’s all-time passing yardage leaders list.
Being as Roethlisberger wasn’t able to practice much and take part in the offensive meetings during the week due to him getting treatment on the left foot he sprained against the Raiders, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin decided to dress the veteran as the backup behind Landry Jones, who made his second career start on Sunday.
Jones, however, left Sunday’s game at the end of the Steelers second offensive possession with a sprained left ankle and Roethlisberger was forced to trade his ball cap for a helmet.
This week, Roethlisberger is up against quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Carson Palmer for the FedEx Air Player of the Week award. FedEx will make a $2,000 donation in each of the winning players’ names to the American Red Cross.
