With Steelers coach Ben Roethlisberger going “next question” when asked during the week about quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s availability beyond Sunday night against the Ravens, it’s been hard to tell how long Ben will be out.
Especially since the only person who has spoken on the record about the extent of his injury is the notoriously dramatic Roethlisberger.
But there’s now a bit of clarity, reportedly, regarding Ben’s availability. Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen of ESPN report that the team’s doctors believe Roethlisberger will miss three weeks. However, the team has not yet given up hope that Roethlisberger will be able to play when the Steelers head to Baltimore in two weeks.
Roethlisberger reportedly was in as much pain Friday as he was Monday. Though Roethlisberger has said that the dislocated rib could have posed a threat to his aorta, Schefter and Mortensen report that “the greater threat is to the surrounding arteries, vessels and soft tissue.”
Either way, the only way to heal the injury is through rest. And that makes the timetable inherently unpredictable. Which means that no one really knows when we’ll see Roethlisberger, until we do.