Steelers Rumors: Big Ben reacts to Canada, Diontae apologizes, Watt DPOY hype

Steelers rumors: Ben Roethlisberger reacts to Matt Canada firing

Former Steelers quarterback and future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger was surprised by Matt Canada's firing. Big Ben wasn't take aback because of Canada's performance, per say, but because it was out of character for a franchise and head coach which rarely makes these kind of changes in-season.

“Well, I was surprised,” Roethlisberger said. “Very unlike them. I didn’t expect it midseason like that. Very uncharacteristic.”

Roethlisberger has a point. Mike Tomlin can often be loyal to a fault, and once the Steelers bye week passed with little to no changes, most the fanbase assumed Pittsburgh would wait until the offseason to make a change. Yet, one loss to the Cleveland Browns was all it took for Tomlin to give Canada the boot, replacing him with Mike Sullivan as play caller.

Per Pro Football Network, the Steelers were specifically concerned with the lack of progression from second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett under Canada. That was the final straw.

"The biggest problem was the lack of development from second-year QB Kenny Pickett, who team sources said had “an outstanding offseason.” But once the season started, sources said from game-tape evaluation that Pickett’s arm-strength issue returned, and he wasn’t “driving the ball down the field” and “he wasn’t playing with a lot of confidence,” Adam Kaplan wrote.

If Canada's presence was hurting Pickett's confidence or at the very least holding him back some, then the Steelers made the right call. Now midway through his second year, the pressure is on the Pitt product to prove Pittsburgh right for selecting him in the first round in 2022.