Ben Roethlisberger is dealing with a shoulder injury that could be very painful heading into Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos.
During an interview with “The Cook and Poni Show” on 93.7 The Fan on Tuesday, Roethlisberger revealed that he sprained the AC joint and tore some ligaments in his right shoulder during his team’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals. He said the injury caused him to shorten up his throwing motion.
“It’s definitely sore,” Roethlisberger said, according to CBS Pittsburgh. “I think it’s a little bit better than it was, but we’re still going to just take it day-by-day.”
Roethlisberger, who intends to play Sunday, added that he has not thrown since the game against the Bengals.
“I haven’t tried to throw a football since the game, and maybe that’s not even the right thing to do right away,” he explained. “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.”
You can see a video of the play where Big Ben was injured here.
Pittsburgh’s injury situation heading into their showdown with the Broncos is not ideal, to say the least. DeAngelo Williams is expected to miss the game, and it is not looking good for Antonio Brown after he took this brutal hit from Vontaze Burfict.
Roehtlisberger is one of the toughest players in the NFL, so it’s no surprise he is planning to play. The issue, of course, will be his effectiveness. If he is unable to throw the ball downfield, the Steelers will have to rely on short passes and their running game. Should both Williams and Brown miss the game, that will seem like an impossible task.
