Steelers' Dan Moore Jr. responds to Ben Roethlisberger comments on leadership

Left tackle Dan Moore Jr. is the latest active member of the Pittsburgh Steelers to publicly react to club legend Ben Roethlisberger's criticisms of the team's alleged lack of offensive leadership. 

"Not everybody responds to rah-rah vocalness," Moore told Brooke Pryor of ESPN for a piece published Friday. "Some people do pay attention to the quiet guy that does the right things, and that's part of being a leader is knowing your team, their personalities and what they respond best to in certain situations and trying to be that for them."

After the Steelers suffered back-to-back defeats against the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots, two of the worst teams in the NFL this season, Big Ben raised plenty of eyebrows when he said on a recent edition of his "Footbahlin' with Ben Roethlisberger" podcast that he fears "the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers is done." 

Roethlisberger added that Pittsburgh needed "someone to stand up in that room, on offense, and be like, 'hey, this isn't what it means to wear the black and gold.'" 

Moore, 25, indicated such a voice would do more harm than good as the 7-6 Steelers prepare to play at the 7-6 Indianapolis Colts on Saturday afternoon. 

"We're a young team," Moore explained. "I think getting down on one another and beating each other down isn't necessarily the way to go. I think lifting each other up, encouraging one another, letting each other know that even though, 'Hey, you might be down right now or you made a bad play. I got you.' Just trying to stay together in times like this."

Pittsburgh veteran defensive tackle Cam Heyward made it known earlier this week he doesn't agree with Roethlisberger's assessment and instead thinks that the Steelers' so-called tradition "starts by winning games" such as Saturday's contest at Lucas Oil Stadium. 

Both the Colts and Steelers would be playoff teams if the postseason tournament began on Friday, but four clubs beneath them in the conference standings will also enter the weekend at 7-6.