Without identifying the precise nature of his injury, Ben Roethlisberger this afternoon described his right-foot ailment as a bruise that, when it first happened, scared both him and teammates about a potentially serious Achilles tendon injury.

"It was a pretty scary thing to have a ... heavy ... guy step around the back of your foot and your Achilles," the Steelers starting quarterback said in his first interview since he got caught in a tangle between 6-foot-8, 345-pound left tackle Max Starks and linebacker James Harrison toward the end of last Thursday's practice at St. Vincent College.

"Everyone thought they heard a pop, too. You didn't know what happened. Luckily, it was a bruise."

Roethlisberger, who didn't dress or play in last Saturday's preseason loss at Washington, declined to say whether an MRI or other tests were performed on his injury.

"I can't talk about what we've done," he said at the Steelers' South Side practice facility. "You know what? I'm up and walking. Participating a little bit [in practices]. I'm glad it wasn't [serious]."

He returned to practice Tuesday, though he sat out the final 10 minutes or so while wrapping the foot in ice.