LATROBE, Pa. (Aug. 16, 2006) -- Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger left practice early with an injury to the thumb on his throwing hand.
"I think he hit his thumb, on the next-to-last play he was in there, on a shoulder pad," coach Bill Cowher said after practice at St. Vincent College. "He's upstairs (in the team's facilities), so we'll look at that, assess it, and I'll probably have more information tomorrow."
The injury occurred about 10 minutes before the end of the team's second workout of the day. The third-year quarterback had looked sharp throughout the practice.
Roethlisberger did not speak with reporters as he left the field, his hand wrapped in ice. Cowher, however, did not sound as though he believed the injury was serious.
"He looked fine," Cowher said.
Roethlisberger was on the official injury report through the last five games of the 2005 regular season and was listed as "probable" in the playoffs with a right thumb injury. After last season, Roethlisberger said he had played the latter part of the year with a broken thumb.
Late in the 2004 season and during the playoffs that followed, Roethlisberger started wearing a glove on his throwing hand during games, sparking speculation that his thumb was injured. Both he and Cowher downplayed such talk at the time.
Cowher said he does not believe that Roethlisberger's hand or thumb problems are chronic or the result of arthritis.
