Dennis Dixon out, Steelers turn to veteran QBs
The Pittsburgh Steelers will play their next two games with one of two veterans who were well down the pecking order in training camp. Coach Mike Tomlin isn't overly concerned, saying that he expects
either Byron Leftwich or Charlie Batch to play well enough to win.
The Steelers found out on Tuesday that quarterback Dennis Dixon, who started and won the first two games of the season in the absence of the suspended Ben Roethlisberger, will require surgery on a torn meniscus
in his right knee. Dixon will go in for surgery on Wednesday and could go on injured reserve, which would end his season.
The injury turned out to be worse than the Steelers first thought on Sunday, when Tomlin said that Dixon could have gone back into the game if necessary.
Dixon was hurt late in the first quarter during a 21-yard scramble against the Tennessee Titans. He stayed in for two more plays, including an eight-yard run, before leaving the game.
"He planted his leg in the ground and cut inside, and said it felt a little unstable at that point," Tomlin said Tuesday. "Adrenaline and things of that nature, particularly when it's a non-impact injury,
it takes a while before you realize that something's amiss."
The Steelers will choose between the recently reacquired Byron Leftwich, who they cut on Saturday to free up a roster spot before re-signing him, and Charlie Batch, who finished the game against the Titans,
his first meaningful action since 2007.
Leftwich who was ahead of Batch on the depth chart during training camp, has been pencilled in as the starter for next week, but is still recovering from an injury to his knee.
"He's been able to comfortably get through some workouts," Tomlin said. "Workouts are different from practice, of course, and games, particularly the unanticipated movements that come with football, but we
feel comfortable with where he is. We're going to proceed through the week and see how this thing sorts out."
If Leftwich can't play, the Steelers will turn to Batch, who probably would have been cut before the season started had Leftwich not sustained an injury.
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