Only time and ice, and not Super Glue, can heal the many bruises of quarterback Kent Graham.
He limped through the Steelers' locker room yesterday with a badly bruised right hip, bruised ribs and displayed a wrap around a bruised left hand.
He's Kent Graham, not Clark Kent and, while he can't slip into a phone booth and acquire super powers, he vowed he will cast aside his injuries, practice tomorrow and play Sunday in Jacksonville.
"I fully expect to be practicing on Wednesday, but I'll have a lot of ice the next couple days," he said.
"We'll see how it feels, obviously. In the past, I had an injury similar to this. I couldn't walk on Monday and I was able to practice on Wednesday and kept the swelling down."
Graham, who applied Super Glue to close a wound on an injured thumb two weeks ago, wasn't the only sore offensive player in the locker room after a 23-20 loss Sunday to Tennessee.
Jerome Bettis walked and talked slowly as he felt the effects of ribs that were bruised when he was hit in the first half. Bettis left for a few plays but returned to rush for 58 yards on nine carries in the second half.
He does not believe he has any broken ribs, but he will wait until tomorrow to determine how they feel and if X-rays are needed. Even if he has broken ribs, it won't be anything new to him.
"I've had my ribs broken the past two years, so I've been playing with that kind of pain. It's something I'm not comfortable with but I've come to deal with."
Bettis doesn't worry that the Jaguars or any other opponent will try to target his ribs. In Cleveland, linebacker Levon Kirkland said halfback Errict Rhett deliberately stepped on his sprained right ankle.
"They're going to take shots at my ribs regardless," Bettis said. "They're not going to take shots at my shoulder pads. I normally take shots in the ribs and the ankles and the legs.
"If you know a guy's hurting, you want to know how hurt is he? Is he tough enough, can he take it? You pound on guys. The key is to try to get a guy out of the game. From the other team's standpoint, not having me in the game, does it make a difference? Who knows. But they're better off seeing."
They don't come much bigger at their respective positions than Bettis, who is 5 feet 11 and 250 pounds, and Graham, who is 6-5, 240.
Graham was hurt after he completed a 20-yard pass to Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala to open the Steelers' final, desperate drive that fell short. Linebacker Kenny Holmes landed on Graham.
"I kind of scrambled up, and the guy kind of got me from the side and pile-drived me into the turf," he said. "That's the type of stuff that happens.
"As a quarterback, you're going to take some hits. I know that, that's part of the game."
Battered Graham certain he'll play against Jacksonville 
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