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Steelers' Leftwich has surgery on broken arm
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Reserve quarterback Byron Leftwich had surgery this afternoon to repair a fracture in his left arm, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said today after practice.
Leftwich, who was injured in Saturday night's preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons, was the backup to Ben Roethlisberger.
Tomlin said the team would not make a final determination about Leftwich's status with the team for another few days.
"We're going to wait until he comes out of surgery and let it calm down for a couple of days before we make that determination," Tomlin said.
Tomlin did not give Roethlisberger many snaps at practice today, giving them to Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon. Tomlin said the new backup will not be determined until after the final preseason game against Carolina.
"We're determining that," Tomlin said. "That's part of what we're doing today. We're giving Charlie and Dennis a lot of work. We didn't give Ben a lot of work today and that's probably will be how it shakes out in the game.
"In terms of the pecking order with those two, we'll determine that as we get closer to game time. Then we'll make a determination after that game."
When asked if there was anything to be read into Batch taking all of the repetitions with the first-team today, Tomlin said "no."
Several other Steelers were held out of practice with injuries, including Maurkice Pouncey (ankle), Hines Ward (quadricep), Troy Polamalu (quadricep), Casey Hampton (elbow) and James Farrior.
"We'll take a look at these guys as we proceed through the week and make a determination as to whether they'll participate [against Carolina]."
Pouncey said before practice that there is pain in the ankle, but he vowed to return for the Sept. 11 regular-season opener against Baltimore.
Keenan Lewis, who injured a knee against Atlanta, participated in practice. Lewis said he has tendonitis in the knee, but it won't prevent him from playing.
The Steelers play at Carolina Thursday night.
First Published August 29, 2011 3:57 pm
