Report: Steelers QB Roethlisberger may sit three weeks (read more)
According to ESPN via Adam Schefter and Chris Mortenson, the Pittsburgh Steelers organization believes that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s shoulder and rib injuries will likely sideline him for the next three games.
The report also says, however, that the team is not without hope that the franchise quarterback could miss only two games, which would put him in line to start the team’s second match up with the Baltimore Ravens, whom the Steelers play tonight.
While the Pro Bowler previously said that doctors believed the dislocation could puncture his aorta, the ESPN report says that doctors believe that the injury is more likely to threaten the surrounding arteries, vessels, and soft tissue. Still no picnic, but it is less life-threatening.
This news could be seen perhaps as a sort of relief given earlier reports on the nature of Roethlisberger’s injury, particularly the rib dislocation.
A few days ago, there were serious concerns that he may not play again this season, though that would have been to the extreme negative side of the spectrum. Should Roethlisberger miss just three games, he would be in line to start the final four games of the regular season.
That would line him up against the Dallas Cowboys, the San Diego Chargers, the Cincinnati Bengals, and the Cleveland Browns.
Meanwhile, over the next three games, the Steelers will be taking on the Ravens twice in three weeks, with the Browns thrown in the middle.
The next three weeks, however, are inarguably the critical stretch of the Steelers’ schedule. The Ravens are their chief competition to secure a strong seeding in the playoffs as division rivals. The Ravens are currently 7-2, while the Steelers are 6-3.
