Steelers relish bye week

Roethlisberger injury gets extra time to heal

PITTSBURGH — Their quarterback basically has a dislocated right index finger, their best remaining offensive lineman suffered a sprained right pectoral muscle and they’re 0-4.

But the Pittsburgh Steelers remained a confident group Tuesday heading into a bye week.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hit his right hand off a defensive lineman’s hand after a touchdown pass to Jerricho Cotchery in the fourth quarter during Sunday’s 34-27 loss to Minnesota, but he didn’t expect the injury to be anything long-term.

“The doc said it was a subluxation, whatever that is,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday, as he only had tape on his right forefinger. “Yeah, it (hurt). It was kind of uncomfortable. It was pretty painful.”

It’s a good bet that Roethlisberger won’t do any- thing too strenuous this week, and neither will left offensive guard Ramon Foster. An MRI Monday revealed that Foster suffered a minor sprain of the right pectoral muscle during the first half.

Neither of those health issues, nor their worst start in 45 years, have deterred the Steelers. However, Roethlisberger still believed that as one of the NFL’s four winless teams — along with Tampa Bay, Jacksonville and the New York Giants — the Steelers were among the league’s worst.

“I was talking recordwise, and if I’m not mistaken we’re one of the — I don’t know how many teams are winless, and I’m a big believer in wins and losses and not numbers — but I would say that record-wise, we’re one of the worst teams in the NFL,” Roethlisberger said.

So, is there anything to feel good about during this bye week?

“The people that we have in here, they’re good players,” Roethlisberger said. “Obviously, we’re down, and we’re disappointed. It hurts, but I don’t think our confidence is low.”

DEVELOPMENTS

League to probe Freeman leak: The NFL Players Association wants to determine if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers leaked information about quarterback Josh Freeman being in the NFL’s substance abuse program.

NFLPA executive direc- tor DeMaurice Smith said Tuesday, “We are sufficiently concerned about what we’ve heard to begin an investigation.”

Freeman said in a statement released by his agent late Monday that he voluntarily entered the substance-abuse program and submitted to random testing more than a year ago after he mistakenly took Ridalin instead of Adderall to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

The Bucs benched the fifth-year pro last week after Freeman played poorly in the team’s first three games, all losses. The quarterback believes someone within the Bucs organization leaked information about him being in the league’s drug testing program.

Meanwhile, coach Greg Schiano said he was “absolutely not” the source for an ESPN report that Freeman is in Stage 1 of the substance-abuse program.