PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s sprained left ankle remained in a walking boot on Wednesday, and backups Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon are preparing as if they’ll play on Monday night in San Francisco.

Roethlisberger hasn’t practiced since spraining the ankle in the second quarter of a 14-3 win over Cleveland last Thursday. He declined to talk to reporters before walking out of the team’s facility with a noticeable limp.

Coach Mike Tomlin maintains Roethlisberger is “day to day” and will be evaluated throughout the week before a decision is made. Tomlin believes Roethlisberger doesn’t need to undergo a full practice in order to play against the 49ers.

“He can be ready to play on a limited number of snaps,” Tomlin said. “At the end of the week, when we get into some situational football things, that’s going to require some physical preparation in some form or fashion. But we’re going to take it day by day. We’re always going to be optimistic when it comes to Ben.”

Roethlisberger hasn’t missed a start due to health reasons since a concussion sidelined him against Baltimore in 2009. He sat out the first four games of the 2010 season after violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy and the Steelers went 3-1 in his absence with Dixon and Batch splitting the snaps.

Both expect to draw on that experience if called upon. The Steelers (10-3) are still hoping to catch Baltimore for the AFC North title and a shot at homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

Batch threw two passes, both incomplete, while briefly relieving Roethlisberger against the Browns. Dixon hasn’t taken a regular season snap since tearing the meniscus in his left knee against the Titans last September.

Though the 37-year-old Batch expects to be the starter if Roethlisberger can’t go, there’s a chance Dixon’s mobility may help him get on the field anyway.

The Steelers have allowed 37 sacks this season, eighth-most in the league. Dixon’s 26-year-old legs could be an asset, and for a player almost certainly in his last season with the Steelers, Dixon would love the chance to showcase his talents.

“I’m ready to prove to this team once again that I am ready to get things done,” Dixon said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Neither player, however, has Roethlisberger’s arm or uncanny ability to make things happen out of the pocket. If Roethlisberger can’t play, it could drastically alter Pittsburgh’s offense.

“Those guys, they’re not Ben,” wide receiver Mike Wallace said. “They’re great players, but Ben is something really special. So you have to change your game to what they do best.”

Wallace’s preference would be to have Roethlisberger play, and he’s shown a capacity to deal with significant pain. He’s started all 13 games this season despite playing with a sprained left foot and a fractured right thumb. He even played the second half against the Browns, throwing for 178 yards with a touchdown and an interception while standing in the pocket on basically one leg.

“If he can play he will,” running back Rashard Mendenhall said. “The only way he won’t is if he can’t. Last week with a high ankle sprain you could tell he was struggling but he was out there.”

Center Maurkice Pouncey is also dealing with a sprained left ankle but is hopeful to play. So is linebacker LaMarr Woodley (strained left hamstring) and safety Troy Polamalu (right hamstring).

Polamalu didn’t practice on Wednesday but expects to try later in the week. The long 11-day layoff between games is a bonus this late in the season.

The All-Pro also stressed his right shoulder is fine. TV cameras caught teammate Ryan Clark yanking on Polamalu’s right arm against the Browns trying to get the shoulder back in place.

The only regular almost certainly out against the 49ers is linebacker James Harrison, who was suspended for one game by the league on Tuesday as punishment for his illegal hit on Cleveland quarterback Colt McCoy.

Harrison’s appeal was heard by the league on Wednesday, but his teammates don’t expect to see Harrison’s familiar No. 92 until the suspension ends next Tuesday.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s sprained left ankle remained in a walking boot on Wednesday, and backups Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon are preparing as if they’ll play on Monday night in San Francisco.

Roethlisberger hasn’t practiced since spraining the ankle in the second quarter of a 14-3 win over Cleveland last Thursday. He declined to talk to reporters before walking out of the team’s facility with a noticeable limp.

Coach Mike Tomlin maintains Roethlisberger is “day to day” and will be evaluated throughout the week before a decision is made. Tomlin believes Roethlisberger doesn’t need to undergo a full practice in order to play against the 49ers.

“He can be ready to play on a limited number of snaps,” Tomlin said. “At the end of the week, when we get into some situational football things, that’s going to require some physical preparation in some form or fashion. But we’re going to take it day by day. We’re always going to be optimistic when it comes to Ben.”

Roethlisberger hasn’t missed a start due to health reasons since a concussion sidelined him against Baltimore in 2009. He sat out the first four games of the 2010 season after violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy and the Steelers went 3-1 in his absence with Dixon and Batch splitting the snaps.

Both expect to draw on that experience if called upon. The Steelers (10-3) are still hoping to catch Baltimore for the AFC North title and a shot at homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

Batch threw two passes, both incomplete, while briefly relieving Roethlisberger against the Browns. Dixon hasn’t taken a regular season snap since tearing the meniscus in his left knee against the Titans last September.

Though the 37-year-old Batch expects to be the starter if Roethlisberger can’t go, there’s a chance Dixon’s mobility may help him get on the field anyway.

The Steelers have allowed 37 sacks this season, eighth-most in the league. Dixon’s 26-year-old legs could be an asset, and for a player almost certainly in his last season with the Steelers, Dixon would love the chance to showcase his talents.

“I’m ready to prove to this team once again that I am ready to get things done,” Dixon said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Neither player, however, has Roethlisberger’s arm or uncanny ability to make things happen out of the pocket. If Roethlisberger can’t play, it could drastically alter Pittsburgh’s offense.

“Those guys, they’re not Ben,” wide receiver Mike Wallace said. “They’re great players, but Ben is something really special. So you have to change your game to what they do best.”

Wallace’s preference would be to have Roethlisberger play, and he’s shown a capacity to deal with significant pain. He’s started all 13 games this season despite playing with a sprained left foot and a fractured right thumb. He even played the second half against the Browns, throwing for 178 yards with a touchdown and an interception while standing in the pocket on basically one leg.

“If he can play he will,” running back Rashard Mendenhall said. “The only way he won’t is if he can’t. Last week with a high ankle sprain you could tell he was struggling but he was out there.”

Center Maurkice Pouncey is also dealing with a sprained left ankle but is hopeful to play. So is linebacker LaMarr Woodley (strained left hamstring) and safety Troy Polamalu (right hamstring).

Polamalu didn’t practice on Wednesday but expects to try later in the week. The long 11-day layoff between games is a bonus this late in the season.

The All-Pro also stressed his right shoulder is fine. TV cameras caught teammate Ryan Clark yanking on Polamalu’s right arm against the Browns trying to get the shoulder back in place.

The only regular almost certainly out against the 49ers is linebacker James Harrison, who was suspended for one game by the league on Tuesday as punishment for his illegal hit on Cleveland quarterback Colt McCoy.

Harrison’s appeal was heard by the league on Wednesday, but his teammates don’t expect to see Harrison’s familiar No. 92 until the suspension ends next Tuesday.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

After his latest run-in with the NFL law, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison shouldn’t be mad at Roger Goodell. He should be mad at his parents.

They brought him into the world in 1978. If only they’d done it in 1938, he wouldn’t be in this fix.

Back then, men were men and it was fine if you tried to decapitate one
playing football. Times have changed but Harrison refuses.

The NFL suspended him one game him for plastering Colt McCoy in the
Steelers’ win over the Cleveland Browns last week. According the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it was the first time a player has been
suspended for a tackle in 25 years.

Drastic players call for drastic measures. Now we’ll see if becoming the
first player suspended under the NFL’s new unnecessary roughness policy
has any effect on Harrison.

LOL.

Laugh out loud.

That was Harrison’s reaction via Twitter, which was pretty tame compared to what he usually says.

McCoy wouldn’t make the list of Harrison’s greatest hits. He was
scrambling and at the last second pitched the ball as Harrison’s helmet
crashed into his facemask.

There’s been a lot of debate whether it warranted a fine, much less a suspension. I’ll go with the Steelers’ coach.

“He hit him. He hit him illegally,” Mike Tomlin said. “He has to suffer the consequences.”

It might help if Tomlin were a little harder on Harrison and his
teammates. Steelers players have been fined at least13 times for illegal
hits this season. They say they’ve tried to teach Harrison new tackling
tricks, but he just won’t learn.

Harrison fancies himself the last samurai, an honorable throwback to
when defenders could all but use weapons on an opponent in defense of
the empire.

“I just want to tackle them softly on the ground,” he said before the
last Super Bowl. “We’ll lay a pillow down there where I’m going to
tackle them, so they don’t hit the ground too hard … Mr. Goodell.”

Mister?

That went over better than when he called NFL commissioner Goodell a
puppet and a dictator and stupid in an interview with Men’s Journal.

Samurai fans love it. Harrison is their martyr against the league’s new
sensitivity. You know, how quarterbacks should wear skirts and Dick
Butkus could never play in today’s NFL.

All the new rules have made life tough and confusing for guys like
Harrison. But the ever-mounting evidence of concussion damage leaves the
league no choice.

The NFL said Harrison was suspended largely for his body of work. He’s
been fined four times for illegal hits to quarterbacks in the past two
years. Throw in two more unnecessary roughness penalties, and you can
see why the linebacker could remind a parent of a 4-year old.

You warn and warn and warn the kid not to keep dunking the cat’s head in
the toilet. Eventually you have to send him to his room for a one-game
timeout.

Will it make Harrison change?

“He told me he can’t,” former teammate Jerome Bettis said on ESPN’s NFL
Live. “He told me it was laughable that this was the case. It wasn’t a
funny situation but it’s laughable he would get suspended over what he
felt was a very, very small incident.”

You wonder what qualifies as a medium or large incident with Harrison.
Apparently knocking out Mohamed Massaquoi ($50,000 fine) doesn’t. Or the
late hit on Drew Brees ($20,000). Or the helmet-to-chin pop on Ryan
Fitzpatrick ($25,000).

They’re all idle threats when you have a $52 million contract. That’s
why it was time to send Harrison to his room. Pending an appeal, he’ll
miss Monday night’s game against San Francisco and $73,529, the
equivalent of a week’s paycheck.

“I’m not going to worry about it,” he told Bettis. “I’m going to play my
game. If they suspend me, they suspend me. But I’m not going to change
the way I play football.”

Harrison is not the only headhunter in the league, but almost everybody
has shown they’re capable of adapting. He’d better swallow his defiance
and accept the fact that times have changed.

His other option is to keep practicing the old customs. That’s what the samurai did.

And you see how many of them are still working today.

–Story originally appeared on SportingNews.com.

Pittsburgh Steelers Pro Bowl
linebacker James Harrison was suspended for one game by the
National Football League for his fifth illegal hit against a
quarterback in the last three seasons.

Harrison received a roughing-the-passer penalty for a head-
to-head hit against Cleveland Browns quarterback Colt McCoy
during the Steelers’ 14-3 win on Dec. 8.

Harrison, 33, was fined four times for illegal hits on
quarterbacks during the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He also was fined
twice by the league for unnecessary roughness over that period,
the NFL said in a statement.

Harrison said on Twitter that he’s “just going to move on
from here and get ready for my next game.”

NFL rules state that players fined for violations in 2009
and 2010 are considered repeat offenders. He would lose one game
paycheck if the suspension is upheld. Fox Sports said Harrison
makes about $215,000 a game.

Harrison has three days to file an appeal, the league said.
If he accepts the ban, he’d miss the Steelers’ Monday night game
against the San Francisco 49ers on Dec. 19. Pittsburgh is tied
with the Baltimore Ravens for first place in the American
Football Conference North division at 10-3.

Harrison told reporters yesterday he didn’t expect to be
disciplined, saying McCoy started running and then made a quick
pass to Montario Hardesty just before being hit.

“He took off running and then at the last second he
chucked and ducked,” Harrison said after practice.

The NFL said in its statement that defensive players can’t
use their helmets against a quarterback out of the pocket who is
in a defenseless posture. The league cited Article 13 of its
rulebook, which prohibits “forcibly hitting the passer’s head
or neck area with the helmet or facemask, regardless of whether
the defensive player also uses his arms to tackle the passer by
encircling or grasping him.”

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he’s disappointed, yet
accepts the NFL’s ruling.

“We are disappointed for James because we know how hard he
has worked to play within the rules,” Tomlin said today at a
news conference. “He has worked extremely hard to adjust his
game. Unfortunately the incident happened. Of course it was a
penalty. We have to be accountable for that; he has to be
accountable for that. We’ll move forward.”

Detroit Lions defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh was suspended
without pay by the NFL two weeks ago for two games for stomping
on an opposing player during a Nov. 24 game against the Green
Bay Packers.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Erik Matuszewski in New York at
matuszewski@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
msillup@bloomberg.net