Cut-down day: Big Ben Roethlisberger makes passes, trims beard

Break out the shears.

Ben Roethlisberger is throwing footballs to teammates again and followed through on his promise to get a haircut and shave to mark the occasion. 

"I'm not going to shave or cut my hair until I can throw a football again," a then-clean-shaven Roethlisberger said. "Throw it to one of my teammates, a legit NFL pass."

On Monday, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback posted a short video of his vow, followed by a compilation of throws to running back James Conner and wide receivers Ryan Switzer and JuJu Smith-Schuster on a football field. The video then cuts to a freshly shorn Roethlisberger in a barber's chair, getting his beard trimmed.

The 38-second video ends with a simple declaration from Smith-Schuster: "He's back."

Roethlisberger and his teammates worked out at Quaker Valley High School's Chuck Knox Stadium and, after the throwing session, got haircuts at Norman's Cut N Edge Barbershop in Sewickley, Pennsylvania.

On Adam Schefter's podcast, Conner said of Roethlisberger, "He's lookin' good. He got a haircut, too, so he's lookin' good throwin' the ball, and he's stylin', too."

He added: "He's healthy, he's fired up, he's anxious to play."

Although there has been no official update from the team on Roethlisberger's status, coach Mike Tomlin told fans on a conference call that the quarterback's rehab is progressing as scheduled.

"He's doing great thus far," Tomlin said last week. "He's in great physical condition. Rehabilitation in regard to the injury itself is going well. I hear nothing but positive reports from that standpoint. There have been no bumps in the road."

Roethlisberger had surgery about eight months ago to repair his throwing elbow after a season-ending injury suffered in Week 2. Both Roethlisberger and the Steelers' front office have maintained that he'll be ready for the season, and they are optimistic about his ability once he takes the field.

"I think that the possibility is real that he could be a better football player coming out of this surgery, just as much as he might be a more regressed player," general manager Kevin Colbert said at the NFL combine. "So I think we have to give that the nod, and again, I'm encouraged and excited about where he can go."