Ben Roethlisberger hurts ankle late in playoff victory, vows to play vs. Chiefs

Everything appeared to be going to plan for the Pittsburgh Steelers in their wild-card blowout over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. But it’s never that easy when it comes to the Steelers and injuries, of course.

Roethlisberger was still in the game with the Steelers up 30-12 with just under five minutes remaining. On 3rd-and-9 from the Miami 44-yard line, Roethlisberger was pressure and pulled down as he threw what would he his final pass — an interception by Dolphins corner Xavien Howard.

You can see in the video above how Roethlisberger takes a moment to get up, and it’s his right ankle that Dolphins pass rusher Cameron Wake came down on. But as Roethlisberger comes off the field he’s flexing and stretching his shoulder while walking slowly toward the sideline. Roethlisberger came back out to the field a few minutes later for the end-of-game kneeldown to close it out.

But why was Ben even out there? It was a three-score game at that point. Did Mike Tomlin not want to turn it over to backup Landry Jones at that point? Even short of that, maybe call a handoff? The Steelers head coach deserves to be asked about this.

According to Yahoo Sports’ Eric Adelson, Roethlisberger was in a walking boot after the game. The Steelers head to Arrowhead Stadium to face the Kansas City Chiefs, a team they beat in Pittsburgh 43-14 in Week 4.

And just when we thought Roethlisberger and the rest of the offense was humming at full health, he gets hurt again. Then again, he’s one of the toughest players in the game today — and we take him at his word, even now, that he plans to play against the Chiefs.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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