Ben Roethlisberger's thumb painful

[zulater]

The pain in Ben Roethlisberger's fractured right thumb isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Then again, grimacing a little bit when he grips the ball sure beats the alternative for the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback: not playing.

Roethlisberger practiced with a splint under his glove Monday and admitted there's a twinge when he takes the snap.

"It's definitely different," Roethlisberger said. "It hurts, first off, just to grip the ball. It's something you have to get used to. I want to get some reps, I wanted to throw some (today)."

Roethlisberger expects to play Sunday when the Steelers (7-3) travel to Kansas City, even if it means making a few adjustments to the playbook.

He didn't take a snap from under center Monday, instead opting to work out of the shotgun and pistol formations to protect the thumb from getting smacked by a direct snap from center Maurkice Pouncey.

read more @ http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7265671/ben-roethlisberger-pittsburgh-steelers-says-thumb-hurts-play-sunday

This could be worse than we thought folks. :no:

[zulater]

If you read the entire article I think there's cause for concern. Which leads me to the question should we hold both Roethlisberger and Woodley out of the Chiefs game, hoping to get them fully healthy, or at least closer to full health for the rematch game against the Bengals?

At least with Ben I wouldn't deactivate him, but hold him in reserve, only to be used if absolutely needed.

With woodley I just give him another week. Our defense should be able to handle the Chiefs offense without Woods. Give him one more week and have him right for the Bengals game.

[venom]

Get an BIG early lead like a 28-3 halftime score and take out Ben - who knows

[Edman]

Don't understand why people were downplaying this. You don't downplay thumb injuries. Ever.

It ended Jay Cutler's season, don't understand why Ben's is supposedly immune. He's tough but he's not invincible.

[zulater]

Don't understand why people were downplaying this. You don't downplay thumb injuries. Ever.

It ended Jay Cutler's season, don't understand why Ben's is supposedly immune. He's tough but he's not invincible.

Ben's injury is different than Cutler, but still an injured thumb on your throwing hand is going to change a lot of things. I think we need to seriously consider seeing if Mendenhall and Batch can win us this next game.

[The Duke]

If you read the entire article I think there's cause for concern. Which leads me to the question should we hold both Roethlisberger and Woodley out of the Chiefs game, hoping to get them fully healthy, or at least closer to full health for the rematch game against the Bengals?

At least with Ben I wouldn't deactivate him, but hold him in reserve, only to be used if absolutely needed.

With woodley I just give him another week. Our defense should be able to handle the Chiefs offense without Woods. Give him one more week and have him right for the Bengals game.

completely agree, and I'd be a nice strategy, but doubt Ben accepts it

If we can't beat the pathetic Chiefs with Batch then our offense has a huge problem. Ben is not the whole offense

the D shouldn't have any trouble with Palko so it's worth considering Ben sitting out

[steelerdude15]

The Chiefs have the twenty-eighth run defense in the league and allows 136.3 yards per game. I think the Steelers should use all four running backs and run the ball down their throat to take pressure off the passing game and sit Ben for this one.

[steelerdiva]

The Chiefs have the twenty-eighth run defense in the league and allows 136.3 yards per game. I think the Steelers should use all four running backs and run the ball down their throat to take pressure off the passing game and sit Ben for this one.

I completely agree, but our OC and QB ain't gonna go for that, unfortunately.

Coach T needs to put his foot down and tell Ben: "Not this week."

[XxKnightxX]

The Chiefs have the twenty-eighth run defense in the league and allows 136.3 yards per game. I think the Steelers should use all four running backs and run the ball down their throat to take pressure off the passing game and sit Ben for this one.

Haaaahahaha, that was funny lol.

[HollywoodSteel]

If he can throw the ball well, then he plays. According to Ben, this is really a a pain management issue, and as he says, adrenaline is the best cure for that. The real issue will be taking direct snaps from center. They'll probably use more shotgun and the pistol formation to help him out.

I don't think sitting him a week will help with this injury, except of course lessoning the possibility that he'll make it worse, but you're really going to have that problem every week. He'll probably be dealing with it to some extent for the rest of the year. Sitting him for this game will only increase the possibility for a loss this week. Then you'll have the same question next week.

[Merchant]

Ben ain't sitting out no game. It's Ben.

[Dino 6 Rings]

If Ben plays, I expect him to STFU about his thumb, go out and perform up to his ability. If it hurts that much, then sit.

Stop being such a sissy about it.

[Chidi29]

Although it was against a tougher defense, the pistol offense got us nowhere last year against Baltimore.

[ALLD]

He is psyching out the Chiefs for a big game.

[SteelGhost]

I'd prefer to rest Big Ben if his thumb REALLY hurts.