Ben's routine: X's, O's, but no X-rays

Ben's routine: X's, O's, but no X-rays
January 30
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"Another injury, another mystery hovers around quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as the Super Bowl nears.

Coach Mike Tomlin yesterday denied a report that Roethlisberger had X-rays on his back/ribs Wednesday.

"Not that I heard," Tomlin told a pool reporter after Roethlisberger went through a full practice yesterday. "Ben's health is often the subject of inaccurate reports. He's fine."

Access to Super Bowl practices is limited to one pool reporter for each team. Peter King of Sports Illustrated is covering the Steelers' practices and files a pool report each day.

Roethlisberger was speared during the AFC championship game and was shown talking to a doctor and trainer in the tunnel at Heinz Field while backup Byron Leftwich warmed up. Roethlisberger never left the game but sat out practice Jan. 21 in Pittsburgh, and the reason given by Tomlin on his injury report was "back."

Roethlisberger has practiced since, and King reported he had a good one yesterday.

Roethlisberger, at media interviews earlier in the day, refused to discuss the report on profootballtalk.com that he had an X-ray on his back/ribs.

King's report:

Roethlisberger threw the ball well on short and deep routes in yesterday's practice -- including a 40-yard bullet up the right seam to wide receiver Santonio Holmes, and several sharp throws to rehabbing receiver Hines Ward -- even during a steady rain.

Ward, who strained a right-knee ligament in the AFC title game, practiced for the first time since the knee was wrenched on a first-quarter tackle against Baltimore. Although he ran at perhaps three-quarters speed, he worked with the regular offense and blocked and caught the ball in midseason form. Tomlin said Ward looked "awesome" and reiterated what he has been saying for the past week: Ward will certainly play Sunday against the Cardinals. "He is where I thought he would be today," Tomlin said.

The Steelers practiced for one hour and 55 minutes on the University of South Florida's two football practice field north of downtown Tampa. The practice began at 1:30 p.m., under a threatening sky, and at 2:07, with the sky nearly blackened, the rain began. It was a deluge for about 20 minutes and continued for 45 minutes, stopped for a short time, then resumed lightly for about the last 20 minutes of practice. Tomlin said at the start of practice it would not rain, and when it was coming down in buckets, Holmes and Ward chided Tomlin, who lived in Tampa for five years while as assistant coach with the Buccaneers, about being unable to predict the weather in his former neighborhood."
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