Matt Freed, Post-Gazette Ben Roethlisberger is back at practice and likely won't spend the Jacksonville game out of uniform and talking with backup Charlie Batch. Click photo for larger image. Related articles Steelers Notebook: Tight end Miller does not expect to lead team in receiving yardage Steelers RB Staley takes high road on inactivity Collier: Much ado about nothing

Yes, Ben Roethlisberger practiced yesterday, perhaps with a heavy heart, and that has nothing to do with another emergency medical procedure performed on him.

Roethlisberger came through his Sept. 3 appendectomy fine, as he did his June 12 motorcycle accident, and is likely to start at quarterback Monday night in Jacksonville for the Steelers.

He can only hope his former coach at Miami University, Terry Hoeppner, comes through in equally fine fashion. Hoeppner, with whom Roethlisberger remains close, underwent brain surgery yesterday in a Bloomington, Ind., hospital for the second time in less than nine months after a scan showed evidence of a possible recurrent tumor.

Hoeppner, now at Indiana, came through the surgery well and was resting comfortably, Hoosiers athletic director Rick Greenspan said.

Roethlisberger and Hoeppner talked Tuesday morning.

"He wanted to inform me of everything that was going on before I heard about it from all of you guys," Roethlisberger said. "We talked. He's like a father to me, I love him to death. I know he'll be OK because he's a fighter and he's a competitor. The way he made it out to me, it's not as serious as everyone's making it out to be."

Neither were many of the things about Roethlisberger that led off the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. news shows. He was the big story again yesterday when he returned to practice, 10 days after his laparoscopic appendectomy at UPMC Presbyterian. He has been cleared medically, and there's no reason for him not to play unless he is so uncomfortable that it could affect his performance in Jacksonville.

"It feels normal," Roethlisberger said. "Everything feels like there's nothing wrong.

"Obviously the first priority is discomfort -- what's going to be comfortable? I wear rib pads anyway so we'll see how that feels putting those on."

Wide receiver Hines Ward watched practice in sweats as coach Bill Cowher gave him the day off to allow his sore hamstring more recovery time. He was in good position to assess Roethlisberger's latest comeback attempt, and he gave him two thumbs up.

"He did pretty well," Ward said. "He threw the ball well, he went through it. From what I saw, he felt fine.

"He practiced, so that's the encouraging thing. He went out there and threw the ball around, got in with the first group and did a great job. He threw some great balls and receivers made plays. He's taking steps in the right direction."

He took all those steps in training camp, showing that he had overcome the broken jaw, broken nose, broken orbital bone and broken teeth that occurred when his helmetless head was smacked in the motorcycle accident. On the morning he was to begin practice for the opener against Miami, he reported a stomach ache to Cowher.

"He told me to suck it up," Roethlisberger said. "And then, it's just one of those things, you think it's a stomach ache, and it turns out a lot worse than you think."

Defensive end Brett Keisel, who said last week that Roethlisberger is cursed, tried to remove that curse yesterday by giving Roethlisberger a bottle of "lucky" water. The quarterback called it half full, rather than half empty.

There is that little matter of his first two seasons in the league, in which he has led his team to a Super Bowl victory and an overall 27-4 record with him as their starting quarterback. Dan Marino would take a curse such as that.

"I've got that black cloud over my head," Roethlisberger said.

He has overcome November knee surgery to win a Super Bowl, a near-fatal motorcycle accident to participate in training camp and an appendectomy to likely play in the second game of the season.

"I've been through a little bit in the past couple of months," Roethlisberger said, "but it's just another thing, obviously for a reason. I'm taking that approach, and that's why I'm going to get back as soon as I can."

Ward is confident Roethlisberger will start in Jacksonville Monday night.

"Ben surprises everyone. He has a high tolerance for pain. He's going to fight through whatever."