Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is usually a limited participant or non-participant in practice early in the week before ramping up in time to play on Sunday, but his schedule is different this week.
The Steelers play the Vikings on Thursday, so Roethlisberger got in a full practice on Tuesday and said that he will be leaning on the team’s “chiropractors, masseuses, training staff” to make sure that he’s as ready to play as possible. As he noted, though, there’s only so much he’s going to be able to do about a right shoulder that’s got a lot of miles on it at this point in his career.
“It’s my shoulder that hurts more than my elbow,” Roethlisberger said, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com. “My elbow feels great, thanks to the doctors. It’s just dealing with throwing. Wish someone could keep track; like I’ve thrown a million throws in my life, so at some point your shoulder starts to wear down a little bit. Just like any quarterback, your arm always hurts a little bit.”
All of the wear and tear that Roethlisberger has picked up over the years is a big part of the reason why this is expected to be his final year in the NFL, but he’ll be doing what he can to get to gameday until the end of the line does arrive.