Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s ailing right shoulder will not require surgery, but he will take some time off in the next few weeks to let the injury heal following the Steelers’ 23-16 playoff loss in Denver.
“From what I’ve been told by Doc (James) Bradley, no surgery,” Roethlisberger said on his weekly segment on 93.7 The Fan this morning. “The ligaments will scar up and heal on their own. The only thing he could foresee possibly down the road is cleaning out the arthritis and scars. I don’t foresee any surgeries anytime soon.”
Roethlisberger said he took a painkilling injection on Friday and before the game. They did the test run on Friday so he would know how his arm would feel in the game.
“The shot was probably as painful as my shoulder was during the game,” he said. “It was the first time I took a shot in the shoulder. I don’t think there was any way I could have gotten through the game without it.”
Roethlisberger, who threw for 339 yards in the losing effort, did not respond to allegations by Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib that he was faking the shoulder injury, other than to say: “Unbelievable. It makes no sense. It is what it is.”
Roethlisberger said he started to believe the Steelers were a team of “destiny” after they got into the playoffs on the final weekend of the regular season and beat the Bengals in that emotionally charged wild-card game in Cincinnati.
That’s one of the reasons he said it was one of the most emotional locker room scenes he’s experienced in his 12 seasons Sunday night in Denver.
“We all felt like we all let each other down,” Roethlisberger said. “We felt like we had something special and we had a chance.
“It’s a wide array of emotions. Obviously, disappointment because we felt we had a good football team. You just kind of felt destiny or whatever was on your side. You’re disappointed your season ends. We could have won that game. Then your emotions keep going, ‘Boy, what an unbelievable run we made with the injuries we had. It was awesome to see the growth of so many players. I have so much pride playing with those guys.”
With most of the team’s best players under contract and only a few starters entering the free agent market, Roethlisberger said he’s already looking forward to next season.
“We felt like we had something pretty special,” he said. “Offseasons are tough because we lose guys. We’re hoping to get as many guys back as we can. What everyone is excited about is the talent we have. I just think the talent we have on this team, if we can stay healthy, we can be pretty special.”
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