Florio suggested that the Steelers reach out to quarterbacks familiar with Todd Haley’s offensive stylings on Monday morning and the chances of that happening don’t actually look too bad.
Jason LaCanfora of CBSSports.com reports that the Steelers fear that they will be without quarterback Byron Leftwich “a while” because of the rib and shoulder injuries Leftwich suffered in the 13-10 loss to Baltimore on Sunday night. Per LaCanfora, they expect to work out quarterbacks this week although there’s no word if Tyler Palko or Brodie Croyle are on the list.
All of that lends support to the notion that Ben Roethlisberger will miss another couple of weeks as a result of his own shoulder and rib injuries. In his Monday Morning Quarterback column for SI.com, Peter King spoke to a thorasic surgeon who said Roethlisberger could risk further damage by returning too soon. That doctor hasn’t examined Roethlisberger, so we can’t know what too soon might be in this case but there aren’t any indications that it will be in time for him to play in Week 12.
That would leave the Steelers with a wounded (and therefore possibly less effective after failing to set the world on fire Sunday) Leftwich, Charlie Batch or whatever might be behind door number three. Not exactly where you want to find yourself with only a one game lead in the Wild Card race.