Ben Roethlisberger's offseason will be surgery-free.
The Steelers quarterback confirmed Tuesday that his banged-up throwing shoulder won't require him to go under the knife.
"From what I've been told by Doc (James) Bradley, no surgery," Roethlisberger said Tuesday, two days after Pittsburgh's 23-16 playoff loss to the Broncos, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "The ligaments will scar up and heal on their own. The only thing he could foresee possibly down the road is cleaning out the arthritis and scars. I don't foresee any surgeries anytime soon."
Roethlisberger said he took a pain-killing injection on Friday after suffering the shoulder injury in Pittsburgh's postseason win over the Bengals.
"The shot was probably as painful as my shoulder was during the game," Roethlisberger said. "It was the first time I took a shot in the shoulder. I don't think there was any way I could have gotten through the game without it."
Big Ben dismissed Aqib Talib's suggestion that Roethlisberger was faking the injury, only saying of the Denver cornerback's accusations: "Unbelievable. It makes no sense. It is what it is."
It's a bullet dodged for Roethlisberger, who can use this offseason to rest before returning to camp fully healthy. As long as he's under center, Pittsburgh's a strong bet to get right back into the mix for an AFC playoff spot in 2016.
