Despite QB saga Steelers defeat Panthers 19-3
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Steelers quarterback Byron Leftwich holds his left knee after getting injured against the Panthers in the second quarter. Leftwich left the game with the injury.
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The unique situation confronting the Steelers at their quarterback position turned more somber Thursday night when Byron Leftwich departed the final preseason game for good in the second quarter with a sprained left knee.
Coach Mike Tomlin declined to speculate how long Leftwich might be sidelined because he said he did not yet know the results of an MRI test on the quarterback. But others around the team did not think the news was good and that Leftwich would not be ready to play in the opener Sept. 12 against Atlanta or perhaps for several weeks.
"That's what we were getting,'' said Charlie Batch, who went from possibly not making the team to possibly its starting quarterback for the opener and beyond.
A sprained knee means a torn ligament of some degree and almost always means a player missing two or three weeks.
Tomlin allowed Dennis Dixon only a brief appearance at quarterback after Leftwich's injury, pulling him in favor of Batch, who played the rest of the way in a 19-3 Steelers victory.
"I didn't know exactly the extent of what Byron's injury was,'' Tomlin said. "I am just interested in keeping them all clean from that juncture on.''
In order to help avoid injury, Batch threw only four passes in 2 ?? quarters.
Leftwich was the presumed starter while Ben Roethlisberger serves his suspension to open the season. Roethlisberger will learn this morning when he travels to New York whether NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will reduce his suspension from six games to possibly four to start the season. The Steelers were preparing Leftwich to open the season as the starter and for Dixon to relieve him on occasion.
Now it's possible that Batch will start and Dixon will still enter games with the special packages the coaches have said they've designed for him.
"I think this is a classic example of being ready because you never know,'' Batch said.
First Published September 2, 2010 11:11 pm
