Pittsburgh Steelers hope for Big Ben’s return for Saturday game – NFL News
The Pittsburgh Steelers still hold on to hopes for return of their quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in their next game this Saturday.
While there was no final word from the team management about the status of his ankle injury and his chances for this weekend’s game, their offensive coaching staff Bruce Arians said that they will wait for the player until their
game before ruling him out.
Despite his injury Big Ben was included in the side in their game against the San Francisco 49ers on past Monday night. He apparently looked uncomfortable with his plays, and fumbled on a couple of occasions.
He has not joined his teammates for practice on Wednesday. He also missed Thursday’s practice raising doubts about his comeback to play next game for the Steelers.
The team’s offensive co-ordinator however clarified that they have not ruled him out of their next game yet and he might be a game-time decision now.
Bruce Arians further said a decision to play Charlie Batch at the starting position as a replacement for Ben will only be taken after the injured Roethlisberger is confirmed to sit out the next game.
The coach’s cautious statement has come after an earlier controversy surrounding the possible exit of Roethlisberger from the last week’s game. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin had been accused of weighing options on keeping Ben on the
sideline.
The coach however clarified and defended his position, saying he wanted Roethlisberger to play for the Steelers in their last game. This was the reason that the quarterback was given the time until their warm-ups before making
their mind about his participation, he added.
Roethlisberger also defended Tomlin on the issue, claiming it was not the coach’s fault.
The return of Ben for this weekend’s game will boost the Steelers who are in a must win situation for their two remaining games of this National Football League (NFL) regular season.
They are tied with the Baltimore Ravens at the score of 10-4 in the league and need to win both of their games to increase their prospects for the American Football Conference (AFC) north title and playoff berth.
The Steelers have lost to the Ravens in their both games earlier this season. This gives their archrivals the tiebreaker advantage and in case of losing even one game the side will be away from their division title chance.
They will then have to compete with teams such as New York Jets for a wild card berth into playoff season.
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