Ben Roethlisberger: 'I Genuinely Feel Bad' About Antonio Brown Comments

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger helped put a strain on his relationship with Antonio Brown by calling his former teammate out in the media. However, he now regrets some of those actions.

One of the most notable instances was when he blamed Brown for a poor route when the quarterback threw a late interception in a loss to the Denver Broncos.

"I took some heat and deservedly so for some of the comments on that show and especially towards him," Roethlisberger said to Bob Pompeani of KDKA-FM Monday, per Dale Lolley of DK Pittsburgh Sports. "I genuinely feel bad about that and I'm sorry. Did I go too far after that Denver game? Probably."

Brown shrugged off the comments at the time, but it clearly affected him as he explained in March on HBO's The Shop.

"That's the type of guy he is. He feels like he's the owner," he said of Roethlisberger. "Bro, you threw this s--t to the D-line. How the f--k am I going to run a better route? You need to give me a better ball."

Brown took to Twitter after Roethlisberger's comments, posting a cryptic tweet that appears to be in reference to his ex-teammate:

The Week 12 defeat to the Broncos was the first of three losses for Pittsburgh as the team dropped from 7-2-1 to eventually missing the playoffs.

Per Gerry Dulac and Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, an argument between Roethlisberger and Brown before Week 17 caused the receiver to leave the team before eventually being declared inactive for the final game of the year.

Brown then forced a trade to the Oakland Raiders in the offseason.

It's clear this relationship has had its problems for a long time, but Roethlisberger took a step toward reconciliation with his apology Monday.