Ben Roethlisberger will miss Sunday's tilt versus the New England Patriots. How many other games he'll miss is anyone's best guess.
"I think that two to three is what you can characterize as best-case, but that's what we're hoping for," Rooney said. "Two to six is probably a fair range that somebody can put on it."
Roethlisberger underwent surgery on Monday to repair the meniscus in his left knee. The star quarterback hopes to be back after the team's Week 8 bye but told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ron Cook that might not be realistic given his medical history.
"Doc says my knee looked good, but there still was some stuff in there from when I had my bone bruise last season in St. Louis," Roethlisberger said Tuesday from his home. "He said that might keep me out a little longer than just a simple meniscus tear. Maybe an extra week or so. But there's no way to put an exact timetable on it. It all depends on my pain and how I feel."
In the meantime, Landry Jones will get the start versus the Patriots on Sunday. Pittsburgh then travels to face rival Baltimore Ravens in Week 9. Tilts with Dallas, Cleveland and Indianapolis follow at the back end of the timeframe on Big Ben's return.
Roethlisberger's history of playing through injury suggests we should expect him back sooner rather than later.
"... obviously, we're hoping it's in the two-to-three range," Rooney added.
