The Pittsburgh Steelers sorely need to get quarterback Ben Roethlisberger back as soon as possible and there is a possibility that it could happed this next week against the Baltimore Ravens.
Roethlisberger, who has missed the last two games due to dislocated rib and right shoulder injury, hopes to play Sunday in Baltimore.
“I\’m going to try,” Roethlisberger told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sunday. “It\’s killing me to watch.”
That being said, Roethlisberger didn\’t give any guarantees on that happening.
“I honestly don’t know,” Roethlisberger told Mike Prisuta. “We’ll evaluate every day. I honestly don’t know anything, truthfully.”
Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported at the end of last week that Roethlisberger would start soft-tossing the ball early this week so that he could check his range of motion and work through the pain, according to team sources. Mortensen reported that doctors have determined Roethlisberger\’s rib has healed to the point where further damage is no longer risk.
Head coach Mike Tomlin will of course address the injury situation on Tuesday, but even he might know until the team practices for the first time on Wednesday what the chances are that Roethlisberger returns this next weekend.
All the above said, this is a marathon and not a race. The team certainly will not bring Roethlisberger back until he is ready and cleared by the doctors. If he can play, he will play.
