Things don’t sound too good for Steelers QB Byron Leftwich, who was expected from all accounts to be the starter for the opener with the suspension to Ben Roethlisberger.
Reports say that Leftwich will miss the season as he apparently tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee after throwing a pass in the second quarter of the teams final preseason win over the Panthers.
The injury throws the team into a bit of panic, as it means that Charlie Batch probably won’t be going anywhere, and who knows, he could be the starter if the team decides to continue to hold back Dennis Dixon.
“It’s unfortunate for Byron what he went through, but this team has to go forward,” Dixon said. “If I am the guy I have to first and foremost take control of the offense. I know the defense will take care of their side of the ball.”
So the buzz now is Batch getting a chance to be the starter for the team, and he has done well in that department when called upon in the past. He won the opener in 2006 beating the Dolphins at home, and stepped in for two games back in 2005 and won both starts before getting hurt vs Cleveland.
“I think it is in good hands,” Batch said of the quarterback position. “We had three solid guys and now we have two. Either way, I’ll be ready to go.”
He’d better be, September 12th vs the Falcons is closer than ever.
UPDATE – The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Leftwich has a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee and he will miss two to four weeks with the injury.
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September 3, 2010 at 10:55 am
This news is a terrible blow for the Steelers. 4 weeks without Ben and the QB situation rests on the inexperienced Dixon or the experienced but fragile Batch, who really had NO REPS in pre-season! The offensive line/running game better make HUGE strides this week in preperation for the season. Protecting either QB from having to try to win games as opposed to managing the game and keeping the defense fresh is going to be the #1 priority. I have to assume that Dixon will get the nod, only because he had more reps in the past 4 weeks. Batch is a professional and would be ready if called upon. The 1st 4 games of the season have become even more important now because 2 of the games are against AFC opponents and at least 1 of the games (Bucs) should be a win. A 2-2 start now sounds great!Ben cant get back quick enough. I was a bit more comfortable with Leftwich starting for 4 weeks as opposed to Dixon. In some ways I am glad that Batch gets to stay on the team though. Not the way I wanted him to stay, but a classy,well prepared player like Batch deserves a chance to play and/or retire on his terms and as a Steeler!
DrGeorge
September 3, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Correction: the unattributed report above that Leftwich would miss the entire season with an MCL tear has been revised to a 3-4 week rehab from a knee sprain, per the Post-Gazette. Big difference.