Steelers Taking Their Time With Ben

[MoLewisrocks]

It's sounding like the Steelers are coming to grips with the fact that Ben's injury was a lot worse than they first hoped to spin it. This could dog him for much of the first half. Most doctors who commented once the extent of the injuries became clear and the details of the surgery involved began to emerge seemed to think it would be unlikely he starts the season and surmised he could be out a lot longer because of the risk contact would pose with this kind of injury.

Steelers | Team to take it slow with Roethlisberger
Fri, 30 Jun 2006 21:12:14 -0700

Gerry Dulac, of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, reports the Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to be extra careful with QB Ben Roethlisberger (head). A source said the amount of head and facial trauma is the reason why the team will not rush him back into the lineup. While he is expected to be ready for the start of training camp and could conceivably play in the second or third preseason game, head coach Bill Cowher and the team's medical staff will closely monitor his condition and not play him until they are convinced he is ready. The team is prepared to keep him on the sidelines until then, even if it means missing the team's season opener Sept. 7. The team wants to make sure he can absorb hits to his head like he did during the 2005 season and there are no plans for Roethlisberger to wear a special helmet or headgear when he returns to the field.

Steelers | Roethlisberger expected to begin throwing next week
Fri, 30 Jun 2006 21:11:57 -0700

Gerry Dulac, of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, reports Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger (head) is healing faster and looking better than expected and is scheduled to start throwing next week, according to two sources familiar with his situation. Roethlisberger again appeared at the team's offices, his second visit since his motorcycle accident. However, he has done nothing more than pick up mail and other items while there. He is expected to throw light passes next week to test his strength, awareness and stability.

http://www.kffl.com/hotw/nfl

 

[sarge]

It's sounding like the Steelers are coming to grips with the fact that Ben's injury was a lot worse than they first hoped to spin it. This could dog him for much of the first half. Most doctors who commented once the extent of the injuries became clear and the details of the surgery involved began to emerge seemed to think it would be unlikely he starts the season and surmised he could be out a lot longer because of the risk contact would pose with this kind of injury.

Neither of the quotes from the article you have posted implies what you are suggesting. WHere have you heard this.

 

[flutie2phelan]

Jim Lonborg, methinks, could be excused for going skiing after the storied Season of '67.
But football is a violent and dangerous enough calling ... that it seems no pro player would wish
to add motorcycling to his actuarial resum'e.

Of several dozen people i've known personally who ride motorcycles,
only three have thus far escaped death or devastating injury.

Even if Big Ben has to lose this entire season - which no one yet has forecasted -
i sure hope that he doesn't lose his promising career because of such folly.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Neither of the quotes from the article you have posted implies what you are suggesting. WHere have you heard this.

The Steelers hoped to go with the spin of it's just a broken jaw he'll be fine by camp. At the time a couple of experts - and one Chief of Maxillofacial Surgery in particular from another Pittsburgh hospital said to look out for the words le fors and descriptions of breaks (multiple) to both the upper and lower jaw as well as other facial structures that had to be reconstructed with permanent plates and screws. That is what Ben had. He said if those were the injuries (and I assume through the doc grapevine he already knew that) and it was his patient he wouldn't play again for at least six months if not a year. I'm sure the surgeons who operated on him did their best to take into consideration his line of work, but there is only so much they can do to speed up the natural healing process. There is considerable risk of complications and infection until the heeling process is complete.

Just like in Tedy's case where, in addition to overcoming the effects of his stroke he was dealing with a cardiac procedure that simply takes 6 months to heal to the point you are at no greater risk of potential complication by dislodging the patch than you were at before it was implanted. And as in Tedy's case with the emotional complications of surviving a stroke, Ben is liable to find he is simply not emotionally up to being himself consistently for months to come. Both situations involved a brush with your own mortality at a young age. I have a feeling Ben will want to push the envelope to make it up to his teamates and the fans. I just hope he has an ownership and coaching staff and family who will maintain his best longterm interests at heart. Football matters, as is the mantra here, but at the end of the day it is also only a game. Better to take time with this kid who has proven to be immature and stubborn to a fault in the past than to watch him struggle to regain his footing and the Steelers as defending champions and perhaps derail his career.

 

[mgcolby]

I think that he is throwing so soon is a good sign for Steeler fans. Only a month after doing a face plant he is throwing a football. He is one lucky bastard.

 

[desi-patsfan]

i wonder how gun shy he might be his first game back against contact.

 

[ClosingTime]

Ummm...sorry... I think some need some critical reading classes. THese are great signs. I still am hesitant to believe it. It seems too good to be true.
Hell, Rip Hamilton got his nose broke and has had to wear that ****** mask ever since.

 

[fgssand]

Ben R. Get back in the game....... ASAP

I truly hope the guy makes it back.....as soon as posible and as good as he ever was.

I really want to see the Pats kick his butt all over the field once again. I am sure I speak for all NEP fans, good luck with your recovery Ben.

 

[Patriotic]

Ben and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

His motorcycle incident will come up again and again. His first public appearance . . . the first sack . . . the first hurried throw . . . the first interception . . . the first loss . . . the first bad game . . . and God help him if his helmet comes off in a game. As if the physical injuries are not bad enough, Ben will be dogged by the motorcycle incident.

Time will tell if he "maintains" his composure.

 

[dhamz]

You know why I don't ever believe what any team says during the offseason about player rehab?

Because none of them ever say that the guy is struggling. They never say they are concerned he might not be able to be the player he was before. The guy is always ahead of schedule, the knee he tore up is actually stronger than before, he's actually running faster, etc. We always hear that an ACL is an injury that guys take 2 years to come fully back from but this offseason alone Culpepper and Palmer are allegedly fully back in 25% of that time? Does that add up?

The rule of thumb with guys like Ben, or Brees, or Culpepper, or Rodney is to wait and see when they get on the field. Don't buy a single word that anyone is saying because if it is bad they would still say it was going great.

 

[T-ShirtDynasty]

The team wants to make sure he can absorb hits to his head like he did during the 2005 season and there are no plans for Roethlisberger to wear a special helmet or headgear when he returns to the field.

I could have sworn I read somewhere that the helmet and facemask he wears offers very little jaw protection, and they would be looking for a new helmet that offered more face and jaw protection. Musta been just idle speculation.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

You know why I don't ever believe what any team says during the offseason about player rehab?

Because none of them ever say that the guy is struggling. They never say they are concerned he might not be able to be the player he was before. The guy is always ahead of schedule, the knee he tore up is actually stronger than before, he's actually running faster, etc. We always hear that an ACL is an injury that guys take 2 years to come fully back from but this offseason alone Culpepper and Palmer are allegedly fully back in 25% of that time? Does that add up?

The rule of thumb with guys like Ben, or Brees, or Culpepper, or Rodney is to wait and see when they get on the field. Don't buy a single word that anyone is saying because if it is bad they would still say it was going great.

Exactly, which is why it is almost comical when the media (or the Borges types in it in particular) get all twisted about the lack of injury information emanating from Belichick's team. Lots of HC's or their minions talk it up more, but more often than not they are either flat out lying or severely stretching the truth so as to mislead. The media laps it up. Belichick just indicates the general area of injury and says they'll be back when they're back and the same media go ballistic that he is purposefully misleading them.

Just saw the entire article from which the KFFL blurbs I posted were taken. Fans on the Steeler site where it was posted are puzzled because John Clayton apparently reported earlier Ben was already lifting and throwing, while this article in their own Pittsburgh Post Gazette on Saturday July 1 clearly states he is not, and has done nothing more than pick up his mail on his two visits to Heinz since the accident. Of course many folks fail to appreciate that Clayton's blatherings aside from financials are next to useless, although there is a distinct possibility Ben could be doing things he is not supposed to be doing - like that would be anything out of the ordinary.

It is also almost comical that folks are opining that it was a good thing his jaw did not require being wired shut but rather could be reconstructed with 5 titanium plates! Talk about revisionist history. There are ways for an athlete to make due nutritionally on a liquid diet. Manning played with his jaw wired shut a few years ago (LOL - Mr. Audible). The fracture that gets your Jaw wired shut for 6 weeks is far less severe than the one that allows you to eat mashed potatoes for 6 weeks because 5 surgically implanted plates are holding your jaws (upper and lower) in place for the rest of your life.

Some more snipets from the piece:

"Mr. Roethlisberger made another appearance at the Steelers' offices on the South Side this week -- his second since his accident June 5 -- but he has done nothing more than pick up mail and other items.

That, though, is expected to change sometime next week when he will attempt to throw light passes to test his strength, awareness and stability -- his biggest step to date on his road to recovery."

"Mr. Cowher always preaches about the big picture, and that's what he will do with Mr. Roethlisberger -- not play him for a regular-season game or two, even more if necessary, to protect the long-term health of his franchise quarterback."

"Mr. Roethlisberger's upper jaw and lower jaw were broken in four places. His nose and orbital bone also were broken, and he had a nine-inch laceration in the back of his head.

It is not uncommon for people with orbital-bone injuries to suffer blurred or double vision, but Mr. Roethlisberger has not experienced either since his accident, both sources said."

One of the keys to Mr. Roethlisberger's improving condition is that doctors used five titanium plates to hold his jaw in place, rather than wiring the jaw shut. That has allowed him to eat a lot of soft foods, including potatoes, and maintain his weight and strength during his recovery.


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06182/702675-66.stm