The Pittsburgh Steelers have now released their first official injury report ahead of their Week 2 home game against the Kansas City Chiefs and the Wednesday offering, as expected, shows that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (elbow) failed to practice earlier in the day.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said during his Tuesday press conference that Roethlisberger might miss Wednesday’s practice due to an elbow injury he suffered late in the team’s Week 1 tie against the Cleveland Browns. Wednesday morning, Roethlisberger was asked about his elbow injury.
“It just got hit,” said Roethlisberger. “It’s bruised. It will be fine.”
Roethlisberger wouldn’t say Wednesday morning if he needed to undergo an MRI on his injured elbow, however.
“I don’t know if I can talk about that, sorry,” the Steelers quarterback said.
Roethlisberger indicated that he might miss Wednesday’s practice but added that’s typical for him to do during the season anyway. He said he hopes not to miss any other practice time moving forward into the week.
Roethlisberger suffered his elbow injury during the second to last offensive play on Sunday. That play included him being sacked and stripped of the football with 48 seconds left in overtime. The Steelers final offensive play of the game was an incompleted pass from Roethlisberger that was intended for wide receiver Justin Hunter.
In addition to Roethlisberger being listed on the Steelers Wednesday injury, so too are cornerback Joe Haden (hamstring), tight end Vance McDonald (foot), defensive end Tyson Alualu (shoulder), defensive lineman Cameron Heyward (knee) and guard David DeCastro (hand). Of those five players, only McDonald practiced on Wednesday and that’s a great early week sign for him. The tight end missed the opener against the Browns in addition to all of the preseason and most of training camp with a foot injury.
DeCastro reportedly said on Wednesday that the hand fracture he suffered Sunday against the Browns is worse than first believed. He is holding out hope that he’ll be able to play Sunday against the Chiefs but that he can’t be fitted for a brace until the swelling goes down. If DeCastro isn’t able to play on Sunday, B.J. Finney would likely start in his place at right guard.
As for Haden missing Wednesday’s practice, that’s not overly surprising as he’s attempting to overcome a hamstring strain he suffered in the second half of the Steelers game against the Browns. If unable to play against the Chiefs on Sunday, second-year cornerback Cameron Sutton would likely start in his place.
Tomlin indicated on Tuesday that Alualu is dealing with a shoulder injury that he suffered against the Browns so him not practicing on Wednesday isn’t overly shocking, either. We’ll have to wait and see what the rest of the week holds for him.
Tomlin, however, didn’t mention Heyward during his Tuesday injury rundown so hopefully him sitting out Wednesday was just a precautionary act.
