The New England Patriots are heading to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers in week 7, but the Steelers will be without their most important player.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has a torn meniscus in left knee and will have surgery Monday morning. No timetable for his return.
— Ron Cook (@RonCookPG) October 17, 2016
QB Ben Roethlisberger will have knee surgery after injuring his knee on Sunday. Back-up QB Landry Jones will be the starter against the Patriots.
The Steelers have a bye in week 8 and there’s a slim chance Roethlisberger could return for week 9 against the Ravens. As Patriots head coach Bill Belichick would agree, it’s more important to win the division, so the Steelers are prioritizing a return for the Baltimore game, instead of risking further injury against the Patriots.
The Patriots are catching a banged-up Steelers offense featuring WR Sammie Coates with a fractured finger, WR Markus Wheaton with a shoulder injury, OT Marcus Gilbert with an ankle injury, and OL Cody Wallace with a knee injury; there’s a real chance that all of these players could miss Sunday’s game, and this doesn’t include the possibility of TE Ladarius Green returning from ankle surgery.
The Steelers two best defenders in LB Ryan Shazier and DL Cameron Heyward are also at risk of missing next week’s game.