Reuters

When Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went down in the second quarter of Monday night’s game and his leg bent in a way that legs shouldn’t bend, he thought what everyone watching the game though.

“I thought my leg was broken, honestly,” Roethlisberger said after Thursday night’s game, according to Scott Brown of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “One of the most painful things I’ve ever felt. I didn’t want to feel that my foot was outside of my leg.”

Even though he was determined to return after halftime, Roethlisberger wasn’t sure how long he could continue. “The plan on my part was basically to give it one or two more plays and see how I could do it,” Roethlisberger said. “It wasn’t for any other reason than to be out there for my guys.”

An MRI on Friday will reveal the extent of the injury. And the injury affected him during the third and fourth quarters of the game.

“I really couldn’t drop back to pass and really couldn’t step into my throws,” Roethlisberger said. “They did such a phenomenal job of kind of keeping me clean. That was my intention of coming back. I wanted to be there for the guys and let them know I’m going to fight for them.”

Ben’s return seemed to have a Tebow effect on the team, getting the other players on offense to perform at a high level (with the exception of left guard Chris Kemoeatu, who was a flag magnet in the third and fourth quarters).

“People want to hate on him all they want, but the guy’s one of the toughest competitors in this game,” defensive end Brett Keisel said.

Now that Roethlisberger has gotten through 30 minutes of football with the injury, the question becomes whether he’ll play next Monday night in San Francisco, even if the injury is one that ordinarily knock a guy out of action for a couple of weeks. Regardless of whether he plays, his willingness to tolerate on Thursday night the pain and the limitations — which necessarily put him at risk for further injury — was admirable.