Injuries piling up for Roethlisberger

STEELERS QB HURTS THUMB; SAINTS FORCED OUT OF ALAMODOME

Ben Roethlisberger’s rightthumb injury ‘‘is pretty painful,’’ he said Thursday, but the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback is hopeful it won’t severely affect his throwing Sunday in a key AFC North game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The injury, not disclosed until Wednesday, follows injuries to both knees that kept Roethlisberger out of four games. Coach Bill Cowher also said Roethlisberger ‘‘tweaked’’ his ankle during a 26- 7 loss to Indianapolis on Monday night, but that injury was not listed on the team’s first injury report of the week.

That report, issued Wednesday afternoon, was the first disclosure of a thumb injury. Neither Roethlisberger nor Cowher mentioned it after the game Monday.

Roethlisberger said the injury is painful enough that trainers designed a protective device so he can throw in practice.

‘‘It’s a little sore, but we’re going to try and see if we can get by with it,’’ said Roethlisberger, who is listed as probable. ‘‘A couple of contraptions hopefully will help it.’’

Asked how and when the injury occurred, Roethlisberger said, ‘‘I can’t go into the extent of the injury, but it is pretty painful and it’s not something that’s fun to have.’’

The New Orleans Saints won’t be able to call the Alamodome home next week.

The NCAA volleyball tournament will take over the Alamodome in San Antonio, forcing the Saints to relocate. The football team’s locker room will move to a high school baseball field. The weight room will go into a tent on the field’s parking lot. The frontoffice personnel will relocate to a city water works building.

‘‘We’ve been doing this — moving around — all year,’’ guard Kendyl Jacox said. ‘‘So, at this point, nothing surprises me.

‘‘This would be acceptable if I was in high school. As far as a professional team, no, it’s not.’’

Saints officials knew this was coming when the team agreed to move its headquarters to San Antonio after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans three months ago. The NCAA event has been scheduled for more than a year, and it requires almost all the space at the Alamodome.

The doctor who performed season-ending surgery for a sports hernia on Donovan McNabb said the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback should ‘‘take it easy’’ before returning to the field.

Dr. William Meyers, who operated Monday at Hahnemann University Hospital, said McNabb had multiple tears and needed surgery immediately. Normal recovery time is eight to 10 weeks, though McNabb won’t play again this year after he was placed on injured reserve.

McNabb had played through several injuries and hoped to delay surgery for the sports hernia until after the season.

‘‘It was at the point of the season where he was having more damage there and I said, ‘That’s enough. You’ve got to have surgery,’ ’’ Meyers said Thursday.

Citing patient confidentially, Meyers did not get into too many specifics of McNabb’s injury, the surgery or recovery. He did not think McNabb would have returned this season even if he had the surgery earlier in the year.

Cleveland Browns starting quarterback Trent Dilfer, slowed by sore knees, participated in team drills during practice but remains questionable for Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Dilfer took some snaps with Cleveland’s first-team offense. On Wednesday, Dilfer watched as rookie backup Charlie Frye worked exclusively with the starters.

Arizona’s top draft pick, Antrel Rolle, was back at practice and hopes to return Dec. 11 against the Washington Redskins.

Rolle, the eighth selection overall in this year’s draft out of Miami, started the first two games for Arizona at cornerback but tore cartilage in his left knee Sept. 25 at Seattle and underwent surgery.