No Broncos fan should ever take an opponent for granted. If we’ve learned anything during this franchise’s lifetime, it’s that anything can happen. Whether we’re talking about the Jaguars in 1996, the Steelers in 2005 or the Ravens in 2012, the Broncos know what it feels like to be upset by a lower seed. Heck, I’m sure the Steelers would have something to say about that, too.
And still, things continue to look pretty darn good for the Denver Broncos this Sunday.
Last night, reports surfaced that Antonio Brown, who suffered a concussion late Saturday night against the Bengals, is “not looking good” for Sunday’s game, according to ESPN’s Bob Holtzman.
Head coach Mike Tomlin seconded that opinion, saying the Steelers won’t push Brown out there if he’s not ready.
Antonio Brown still in concsussion protocol and has yet to be in the building today. Tomlin said team will do,what is right.
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) January 12, 2016
Likewise, according to Tomlin, Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams has a long way to go before he’s ready to step back out on the field.
Tomlin says "DeAngelo still on the outside looking in. I'll leave the door ajar for him." Says as savvy vet, doesn't need practice to play.
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) January 12, 2016
The big news of the day, though, is that Ben Roethlisberger isn’t just dealing with an AC joint sprain, but he suffered some torn ligaments in his shoulder, too. And while most everybody expects Big Ben, one of the toughest players in the NFL, to play on Sunday, there’s no doubt that he’s far from 100 percent.
“I’ll go in tomorrow with the intent to see what I can do,” Roethlisberger said, via CBS Pittsburgh. “I honestly don’t know. I haven’t tried to throw a football since the game, and maybe that’s not even the right thing to do right away. I’ll see the doctors and trainers tomorrow, we’ll evaluate kind of how I feel. If anything, maybe I can practice and hand off and still get some mental reps that way. So we’ll really just kind of see how it goes tomorrow.”
And if it wasn’t clear on Saturday night, there’s no denying that Roethlisberger was a shell of himself on the Steelers’ final drive, which makes their comeback all the more shocking.
Tomlin, on putting R'berger back in: "I was banking on the fact that Cincinnati didn't know that he couldn't throw it further than 10 yds."
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) January 12, 2016
“It didn’t hurt when I reached back to throw,” Roethlisberger said of his heroic late-game drive. “But it was pushing forward to throw and then the end of the throw. So I definitely felt like I was shortening up my motion up a little bit, which is why we threw some screens, and couldn’t really get the ball down the field… I think it just more affected how I could throw it.”
There are a lot of things players can do to get back onto the field quicker than expected, and I’m sure Big Ben will try them all, but even with the greatest pain pills in the world, Roethlisberger is going to be a limited version of himself.
If the Broncos do bring home a victory next Sunday, they’ll owe the Cincinnati Bengals a big thank you basket.
