Following the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-13 loss Sunday to the Kansas City Chiefs, head coach Mike Tomlin let it be known that the team is hopeful to get starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger back on the field for their home game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“We’ll move forward with Ben as we prepare this week,” said Tomlin.
So, does Tomlin feel good about Roethlisberger’s chances next week?
“I do as we sit here today, but I don’t know what the reaction to next week’s work is going to mean to him,” said Tomlin. “So I say that with the understanding that with how his knee reacts to the work that we give him could play into that as well.”
Roethlisberger, who practiced all three days this week on a limited basis, ended the week listed as questionable on the team’s injury report. Because of that, Tomlin was asked if he was close to playing Sunday against the Chiefs.
“It was close, but in the end we decided to go with the guy [Landry Jones] that had the practice reps,” said Tomlin. “That was the appropriate thing to do, no second guessing there.”
The Steelers managed to go 2-2 during their four games without Roethlisberger, who has been sidelined by a sprained left MCL that he suffered in Week 2. While almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, they were a few missed field goals away from going 3-1 during that span of games.
Over the course of his career, Roethlisberger hasn’t been overly sharp in his first game back from an injury. Up until now, however, he has never missed more than three games in a row due to an injury. Hopefully the extra week of recovery time will help this time.
