Ben Roethlisberger hoping to play

Updated: December 21, 2011, 5:40 PM ET
Ben Roethlisberger hoping to play
Associated Press

PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger spent Monday night gingerly limping up and down the field at Candlestick Park on one leg not caring, to be honest, how he'd feel the next day.

Turns out, he was pleasantly surprised.

"I didn't think I'd be able to walk," Roethlisberger said Wednesday. "It actually feels a lot better than I thought it would."

Good enough, Roethlisberger hopes, to play against St. Louis on Saturday.

Despite speculation the Steelers (10-4) might sit him for both of the team's final games to make sure he's healthy when the playoffs begin, Roethlisberger insisted he's doing everything he can to help keep Pittsburgh's hopes for an AFC North title alive.

"I've said many times I want to go and I'll try and be ... ready to go," he said.

Roethlisberger passed for 330 yards but also turned over the ball four times in a 20-3 loss to San Francisco while playing with his badly sprained left ankle in a brace he equated to a prosthetic limb.

He took the blame for the turnovers and allowed the injury forced him to modify the way he throws because he was concerned about taking a bad step.

"If you go back and look, sometimes there were guys around my feet and I didn't get as much depth on the drop," Roethlisberger said. "I just couldn't step into some of the throws and that, I think, was a factor a little bit."


(Read More:) http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7376465/pittsburgh-steelers-ben-roethlisberger-optimistic-play-saturday

Or......


http://www.nfl.com/videos/pittsburgh-steelers/09000d5d82547d71/Big-Ben-likely-out-vs-Rams

The only way he should see the field before the playoffs is if the ravens happen to lose on Saturday or maybe a couple of possessions against the Browns as a tune up. Take the two weeks and get Ben, Troy, Sanders, Mendy, Moore, Woodley, Pouncey et al healthy.

supytalpeht wrote:

The only way he should see the field before the playoffs is if the ravens happen to lose on Saturday or maybe a couple of possessions against the Browns as a tune up. Take the two weeks and get Ben, Troy, Sanders, Mendy, Moore, Woodley, Pouncey et al healthy.

I agree with everything here, but the highlighted part, as unlikely as it already appeared, seems virtually impossible after reading this article.


http://www.timesonline.com/sports/steelers/mccoy-not-practicing-with-browns/article_66aa5b16-42a2-5425-aa4d-0b9fbf1f7fa4.html



Try to beat the Rams with your healthy backups. They are basically a JV high school team anyway and can be handled with the subs if they are worth anything. I'd only even consider starting Ben against the Browns (if we beat the Rams) just in case the Ravens lose another road game to Cinci in their final regular season game.

didn't want Ben to play in the 9ers game