Are the Steelers Concerned about Roethlisberger’s Knee?
Have the Steelers manipulated the injury report?
In fairness, this is conjecture, and there is no specific proof this has occurred surrounding Rothlisberger. Manipulating the injury report is a serious accusation. However, that said, in 2019, the NFL did fine the Steelers $75,000 and fined Coach Mike Tomlin $25,000 for violating the league’s injury report policy by not accurately listing Roethlisberger on the practice report prior to the Seattle Seahawks game. This error is not the only time such things have happened. In 2018 the NFL fined the Raiders $20,000 for an injury report omission to Kelechi Osemele.
A similar occurrence happened to the Ravens in 2012 when they failed to report a shoulder injury incurred by Ed Reed. The NFL fined the Ravens $20,000. These occurrences have happened for whatever reason. Probably they are oversights that, unfortunately, NFL discovered. Of course, the NFL fined the teams as needed. So yes, teams have made mistakes on occasions in regards to the injury report.
Conversely, some injuries have been downgraded or outright ignored. It can be a tricky situation, according to a 2017 article online about injuries in the NFL. It notes that Bears Center Olin Kreutz once tore his Lisfranc tendon. Since the Bears had no replacement center, they downplayed it; he returned and finished the game despite not being able to block anyone. Kreutz also admitted when spraining an ankle to taping both ankles so opponents wouldn’t know which one was injured. These things occur when players get injured.
Given when a player gets injured, only four people know the extent of the injury. The list includes the head coach, position coach, the GM, and the team doctor. Going further, one player agent, David Canter, admitted he knows of players who suffered season-ending injuries, yet one of those injuries never showed up on the injury report. So the point is sometimes injuries get hidden if only because a player wants to get his roster bonus or if it’s a veteran star, they are hoping he may bounce back before game time. That’s not to say it has happened in this situation. However, there is another angle regarding the injury report to consider. This may be the issue with Big Ben.