PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had an emergency appendectomy after becoming ill before practice Sunday and will miss Thursday night's season opener against Miami.
Coach Bill Cowher is not certain how long Roethlisberger will be
out following the quarterback's third operation in 10 months -- and
second in 2½ months. Roethlisberger began having pain and was
vomiting Sunday morning and was taken to UPMC Presbyterian for
surgery after being examined by the team's medical staff.
"The surgery went well," Cowher said. "He is obviously going
to be out this week and we will go week to week from there."
Roethlisberger was released from the hospital on Monday, Cowher said.
Charlie Batch, the former Lions starter who was 2-0 as a fill-in
last season when Roethlisberger hurt his knee, will start against
the Dolphins in the NFL's first game of the season.
"This is why Charlie is here. Charlie will be fine," Cowher
said. "It's a situation that can happen to any football team. You
can go out there and have a starter go down, whether it's an ankle
or something else of that nature. That's the nature of the
business."
The appendix attack is yet another medical setback for
Roethlisberger, who nearly died in a June 12 motorcycle accident
only to make a remarkably fast recovery. He missed no practice time
during training camp and played better in the preseason than he did
a year ago before leading the Steelers to their first Super Bowl
victory in 26 years.
Roethlisberger missed four games last season because of two knee
injuries, one that required surgery, and injured his right thumb
late in the season. He later said he broke it, though the Steelers
never have confirmed that, but he missed no playing time because of
that injury.
It was not immediately known if the motorcycle accident might
have caused any internal damage that subsequently resulted in the
appendix attack. All of Roethlisberger's known injuries from the
crash -- a broken nose, orbital bones and upper and lower jaw,
damaged teeth and a concussion -- were to his head.
According to various medical journals, one cause of appendicitis
can be a perforation in the appendix. Unless there is severe
bleeding, an otherwise healthy patient such as Roethlisberger is often released within 24 hours of surgery and has a relatively short
recovery time.
Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward also had an appendectomy in
2002 and missed the final two exhibition games but returned to
make eight catches in the season opener against New England.
The Steelers were to begin the season with only two
quarterbacks, Roethlisberger and Batch, plus rookie Omar Jacobs on
their practice squad.
On Monday, the Steelers signed quarterback Brian St. Pierre, who was released by the Baltimore Ravens, to their practice squad. A fifth-round pick of the Steelers in 2003, St. Pierre spent two seasons in Pittsburgh before joining the Ravens in 2005.
The Steelers never seriously considered re-signing veteran Tommy Maddox, a former starter in Pittsburgh and the team's No. 3 quarterback in 2005.
Pittsburgh released fullback John Kuhn from the practice squad to create a spot for St. Pierre.
St. Pierre and Jacobs will get snaps behind Batch this week, and then the coaching staff will determine who will be elevated to the active roster to serve as the No. 2 quarterback for Thursday night's regular-season opener.
"We will assess the backup [situation] as the week goes on.
This is the situation we are being dealt and we are not asking for
any pity nor are we going to make any excuses," Cowher said. "We
are going to get ready for Miami accordingly."
Roethlisberger is the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl,
doing so at age 23 as the Steelers beat Seattle 21-10 on Feb. 5. He
is off to one of the best starts of any NFL quarterback in history,
leading the Steelers to a 27-4 record in his 31 starts and to two
AFC Championship Games and one Super Bowl in two seasons.
The Steelers made the playoffs last season even with
Roethlisberger sitting out one-quarter of their schedule, and
Cowher said they will overcome this latest setback.
"Adversity is not what knocks you down, it is how you handle it
and how you respond to it," he said. "This football team with its
veterans has been down this road before, facing challenges and
adversity."
ESPN.com senior NFL writer Len Pasquarelli and The Associated Press contributed to this report.