Assuming things go well in practice this week for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, he will play this Sunday at home against the Cincinnati Bengals after missing the team’s last four games due to a left MCL sprain. While the Bengals defense will certainly be aware of Roethlisberger’s recent injury, guard Ramon Foster doesn’t necessarily believe that they will be gunning for his quarterback’s left leg.
“I don’t think they’re going to be trying to aim at his leg,” Foster said during a Tuesday morning interview on 93.7 The Fan. “But definitely, you pay attention to that thing, and they’re probably going to try to rattle him.”
While Foster is probably trying to make the politically correct statement, it’s hard to imagine that the Bengals defensive players won’t think twice about hitting Roethlisberger in his left knee. With that said, the Steelers guard knows that he and the rest of the offensive line need to do everything in their power to keep defenders away from Roethlisberger on Sunday. In fact, his Tuesday comments are completely different than the ones he made on Monday
“Our job is still going to be to keep him safe. He’s coming off the knee thing, and I’m sure teams are going to be aiming for it,” Foster said, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
As for Roethlisberger, he’s still not entirely sure he will be back this week even though it’s obvious that he will be barring any kind of setback this week in practice.
“I’m not sure yet,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday morning during his weekly radio show. “I’m going to give it everything I have on Wednesday in practice, and then it’s going to be coach’s decision. So we’ll go into practice with the mentality that I’m going to go and be ready to go, but my body is going to tell me probably better than anything.”
As I posted earlier on Tuesday, Roethlisberger has had his struggles so far during his career during his first game back from an injury. He’ll certainly have a tough test this time around as the undefeated Bengals have sacked opposing quarterbacks 17 times so far this season.
