Steelers Quarterback Woes Continue as Leftwich Tears MCI

I can't say the following comes as any shock considering how oddly handled the quarterback situation for the Pittsburgh Steelers has been since learning of franchise starter Ben Roethlisberger's 4 to 6 game suspension but it's been confirmed that the hit Byron Leftwich took in the final preseason game against the Carolina Panthers Thursday night has put him out indefinitely.

Yep, the quarterback brought back to the Steelers to fill the void in the beginning part of the season has suffered what the Pittsburgh Tribune-review is reporting as a “torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee all but knocking him out of the games the Steelers had planned to start him.”

Leftwich hurt the knee after completing an 18-yard pass to rookie Emmanuel Sanders. Halfback Mewelde Moore was blocking safety Marcus Hudson on the play and the two seemed to push into Leftwich, causing the injury.  The banged up quarterback received an MRI today that revealed the severity of the injury.

With Leftwich now apparently out of the picture, that leaves the six time SuperBowl champs with only two healthy quarterbacks on the roster come opening day; Dennis Dixon and Charlie Batch. Batch, the longtime backup for the franchise, is by far the more polished of the two but to say he is injury prone is putting it mildly. Dixon, who can be all but certainly penciled in as the starter, has only one start on his resume but brings an athleticism to the position not seen since the Kordell Stewart era.

"It's an opportunity, I guess, but it's unfortunate for Byron for what he went through. But this team has to continue to go forward," said Dixon. "I know once he's going to come back he's going to give us nothing but tremendous support."

The biggest descision the Pittsburgh Steelers have to make now, other than who their starter is going to be, is to try and weather the storm of Roethlisberger's absence with just two QB's or sign an additional one to replace Leftwich. Another option is to add a QB to their practice squad when that is put together following the finalization of 53-man rosters Saturday.