With the Steelers in the midst of fighting for a playoff spot, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger plans on playing against the Ravens on Sunday despite suffering a concussion last week in a loss to the Chiefs.

From ESPN.com:

“It’s part of the nature of the beast of playing this game. It’s a violent, physical contact sport and there’s a chance you’re going to get hit,” Roethlisberger said Thursday. “You guys don’t talk about the bruises we have all over our body. If I showed you a bruise on my shoulder and a bruise on my shin, it wouldn’t get talked about as much. It’s a violent sport we play.”
Roethlisberger, who is having his best season statistically despite the Steelers’ erratic play, is evidence of that.

The two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback’s latest concussion occurred when his head accidentally struck the knee of Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson while he was being tackled during Pittsburgh’s 27-24 overtime loss Sunday.

The play was subsequently wiped out by a holding call.

“It just kind of felt like I got hit pretty hard. Kind of said, ‘Let me catch my breath real quick,’ and by that time the trainers were out there, so I didn’t get a chance to get up,” Roethlisberger said.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that Roethlisberger will play. He’s one of the toughest players in the league and has shown no concussion symptoms since returning to practice on Wednesday.

That said, I’m not a doctor and I have no idea how he’s feeling. If he suffers a jarring hit on Sunday, then it stands to reason that team doctors will pull him to risk further injury. If that happens, Pittsburgh would likely see its playoff hopes go down with him.

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