PITTSBURGH (Sept. 5, 2006) -- Ben Roethlisberger will miss one game following his emergency appendectomy. Hines Ward, who had the same procedure four years ago, will be surprised if the Pittsburgh quarterback misses a second.
After all, Ward said, isn't Roethlisberger's remarkably fast recovery from his June motorcycle accident proof enough how fast a healer he is?
Unless there are some unexpected medical complications, Ward expects Roethlisberger to play in the second game of the season Sept. 18 in Jacksonville. Because the Steelers play the NFL's season-opening game Sept. 7 against Miami, they will have 11 days off before their next game.
"He's going to do whatever it takes to play against Jacksonville. He doesn't like to miss games," Ward said. "Knowing Ben, he's going to be there for Jacksonville."
Ward spoke with some knowledge of the situation. He also had an appendectomy during the preseason, in 2002, but returned 17 days later to make eight catches in the Steelers' opener against New England.
Ward was still in pain, but not to the point it affected his play.
"You're not going to be 100 percent -- you just went under the knife -- and it all depends on how much pain tolerance he has," Ward said. "Ben's a guy who's played with pain before."
Roethlisberger broke his nose, upper and lower jaw, some eye socket bones and got a concussion during his June 12 motorcycle accident, but didn't miss any training camp time because of it.
Losing Roethlisberger is a setback to the Super Bowl champions going into a difficult opener against Miami, Ward said, but he emphasized how they went 2-0 with Charlie Batch as a fill-in starter last season.
Batch looked rusty while throwing for only 65 yards in a 20-10 victory in Green Bay on Nov. 6, his first substantial game action in nearly four years. He was much sharper a week later, going 13 of 19 for 150 yards during a 41-0 rout of Cleveland.
"You think you can jump right in and the game speed is going to come right away, and it didn't happen," said Batch, the Lions' starter for most of four seasons from 1998-2001. "I was kind of a split-second off while I was in Green Bay, but I was able to rebound when I came back against Cleveland. Definitely, having those games was good."
Batch doesn't expect to be off on his timing against Miami after spending considerable time practicing with the starting offense during camp.
Ward said the offensive game plan wasn't altered despite the change at quarterback.
"It is disappointing for us watching Ben get better, working his tail off to get back to where he was, and it's frustrating," Ward said. "But we've got to rally around Charlie. The confidence and comfort level with Charlie, it's there."
Ward returned to practice this week and expects to play after missing much of training camp with a sore hamstring.
The Steelers signed their one-time No. 3 quarterback, Brian St. Pierre, to their practice squad. Either St. Pierre or rookie Omar Jacobs, also currently on the practice squad, will be Batch's backup.
Batch grew up in Pittsburgh and was an elementary school classmate of Dolphins defensive star Jason Taylor, so he expects to be more pumped up than usual starting a season opener. Batch hasn't played in an opener since 2001 with Detroit, but now gets to start one in his hometown.
"I've got to calm myself down because I'm excited, and to be able to start at home and do this in front of family and friends is great," Batch said. "I haven't had too many opportunities to play at Heinz Field and that's why I'm excited. But my mom is probably more excited than me, so I'll have to calm her down."
Batch attended the Virginia-Pitt game with Roethlisberger on Sept. 2, and was as surprised as anyone to learn 12 hours later that he was ill and would miss at least one game.
"I never imagined anything was wrong with him," Batch said. "But that's why I'm here. I'm glad to have this opportunity and a couple of days to prepare for that. Most of the time, your number is called and you just run into the game."
