The Pittsburgh Steelers fear quarterback Ben Roethlisbeger has a "pretty significant" injury to his throwing shoulder, according to Ed Werder of ESPN.com. The report states that the team believes the injury is "probably going to take a while to heal."
Roethlisberger was sandwiched between two Chiefs defenders on Monday night, landing on his shoulder.
Separated shoulder and sprained shoulderhave been thrown out as the diagnosis. The team is awaiting MRI results, which will likely be completed on Tuesday.
Losing Roethlisberger for any stretch would be devastating for the Steelers, who are 6-3 and in the thick of the AFC playoff picture. Two of the Steelers next three games come against AFC North rival Baltimore Ravenss so, yes, the injury could've come at a better time for Pittsburgh.
Byron Leftwich is the backup quarterback and Charlie Batch is behind him. Leftwich is not in the same world as Roethlisberger as a quarterback. That's a serious step down.
We'll await details of Roethlisberger's injury but if he misses any games we'll have to sort through the AFC playoff picture again.