The initial reports of no ligament damage Ben Roethlisberger claims are incorrect, claiming he has a torn ligament and sprained AC joint.
Ben Roethlisberger, starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, suffered a shoulder injury in the Wild Card game vs the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday. Initial reports after the game left Roethlisberger questionable heading into this week’s matchup against the Denver Broncos. The initial reports also said Roethlisberger had no ligament damage. However, Roethlisberger himself has other things to say.
As a guest on the radio station 93.7 The Fan, Roethlisberger says that he has torn ligaments in his shoulder, alongside a sprained AC joint from the hit that Vontze Burfict unleashed on him Saturday night. These injuries caused Big Ben some problems Saturday, though he came back to lead the Steelers on a game winning drive, capped off by a field goal that sealed it.
Roethlisberger’s heroics don’t mean he isn’t sore though. He claimed to be “definitely sore” and on the radio show, according to ProFootball Talk, and explained how the injury affected his game upon his return.
“It didn’t hurt when I reached back to throw,” Roethlisberger said. “But it was pushing forward to throw and then the end of the throw. So I definitely felt like I was shortening up my motion up a little bit, which is why we threw some screens, and couldn’t really get the ball down the field… I think it just more affected how I could throw it.”
Roethlisberger claims the plan is to take things “day-by-day” and hope he is well enough to play in this weekend’s matchup against the Broncos.
Wednesday’s practice will put larger insight on to just how healthy Roethlisberger really is. “I honestly don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t tried to throw a football since the game, and maybe that’s not even the right thing to do right away. I’ll see the doctors and trainers tomorrow, we’ll evaluate kind of how I feel. If anything, maybe I can practice and hand off and still get some mental reps that way. So we’ll really just kind of see how it goes tomorrow.”
With Roethlisberger’s track record, it is safe for the Broncos to expect Roethlisberger to play. However, things could quickly change this week. At this time, expect Big Ben to suit it up and gut it out for the Steelers against the Broncos.