Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t anticipating having offseason surgery on his injured shoulder.
Roethlisberger said Tuesday during a weekly segment on 93.7 The Fan radio in Pittsburgh that rest is what he needs to let the sprained AC joint and torn ligaments heal.
“From what I’ve been told by (Dr. James) Bradley, no surgery,” Roethlisberger said. “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 any time soon.”
Roethlisberger took painkilling injections in his right shoulder leading up to Sunday’s AFC divisional playoff game against the Denver Broncos, won 23-16 by Denver despite his 339 passing yards. He injured the shoulder the previous week during the Steelers’ wild-card playoff win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
“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 said the loss in Denver was especially painful for the players.
“We all felt like we all let each other down,” he 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.”
