The Pittsburgh Steelers and head coach Mike Tomlin have announced that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has had surgery on his torn meniscus suffered in the Week 6 loss to the Miami Dolphins and that he’s recovering at home.
The biggest takeaway: The Steelers do not believe it will be a “long term” injury, which is terrific news for them.
Coach Mike Tomlin issues statement following the procedure on Ben Roethlisberger's left knee. pic.twitter.com/qkjkMaG1Od— Bob Labriola (@BobLabriola) October 17, 2016
The Steelers almost certainly will be without Roethlisberger for Sunday’s new showdown with the New England Patriots in Pittsburgh in a game that could have big playoff implications. Backup Landry Jones will now start in Roethlisberger’s spot, and No. 3 QB Zach Mettenberger will be elevated to the backup. The fantasy football implications clearly are pretty big with this injury, even if Roethlisberger doesn’t miss an extended period of time.
Jones started two games last season and made a brief appearance in the playoff win over the Cincinnati Bengals last season — all in moments when Roethlisberger was hurt. He was uneven but better than Michael Vick, who started three games with Big Ben out in 2015, and the Steelers do feature elite offensive talent with Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and others.
The Steelers have a bye following the Patriots game but have a tough stretch with five road games over a seven-game span following the bye. It sounds like they’ll get Roethlisberger back somewhere in that range, perhaps even on the early side of it. If they can hold serve until his return, there’s still a good shot they can win the AFC North and challenge for home-field advantage in the playoffs, even after losing their second game Sunday.
But we’re a long way from that, and though the Steelers appear optimistic, it’s not known just how fast a healer Roethlisberger is.
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