Round and round the timetable for the return of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger goes and where it stops, nobody really knows.
Tuesday night, it was reported that Steelers team president Art Rooney II said that the projected recovery time for Roethlisberger to return from his left meniscus surgery was two or three weeks. However, on Wednesday, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Rooney said the “best case” for Roethlisberger’s return to the lineup is two to three weeks, but that his injured quarterback could possibly be out for up to six weeks.
Those most recent comments made by Rooney match similar reports made Wednesday morning by Ron Cook of the PPG as well as Chris Mortensen of ESPN. Rooney, by the way, initially made his Wednesday comments to the NFL Network at the league meetings in Houston, then confirmed his remarks via a text to the PPG.
“I think that two to three is what you can characterize as best-case, but that’s what we’re hoping for,” Rooney said to NFL Network. “Two to six is probably a fair range that somebody can put on it.”
After the Steelers play the New England Patriots Sunday at Heinz Field, the team will then have their well-anticipated bye week. When they return to action in Week 9, they will play the Baltimore Ravens on the road. In Week 10, they will come back home to host the Dallas Cowboys and that game will be followed by a divisional road game against the Cleveland Browns.
It’s worth reemphasizing that Roethlisberger has never missed more than four games in a single season. In the meantime, Landry Jones will be the team’s starting quarterback and he’ll be backed up by Zach Mettenberger.
Roethlisberger had his out-patient surgery Monday morning.
