Mike Tomlin changes his explanation of why Ben Roethlisberger didn't come back in the game vs. Raiders

Tomlin now says Roethlisberger didn't come back in earlier because of a pain-killing injection he got at halftime

The Pittsburgh Steelers lost a game to the Oakland Raiders in embarrassing fashion on Sunday. Pittsburgh blew two different fourth-quarter leads and that was pretty terrible, but perhaps the biggest story of the game was that the Steelers played the entire second half without Ben Roethlisberger until reinserting him with five minutes left in the game. 

Roethlisberger suffered a rib injury near the end of the first half, but Mike Tomlin explained his decision to stick with Josh Dobbs for the majority of the second half thusly on Sunday: 

"He got looked at at halftime. He got treatment, he came back out. We were waiting to see if he was gonna be able to come back in. He was. He probably could've come in a series or so sooner, but we were in the rhythm and flow of the game. He was ready to go when he got back out there."

Nobody was entirely clear on what on earth that means, but it doesn't really matter anyway because Tomlin changed his explanation on Tuesday. 

Mike Tomlin said Ben Roethlisberger received “treatment” for his rib injury at halftime. It was a pain-killing shot. The reason he did not enter game vs. Raiders after he came to the sideline? It takes pain-killers some time to kick in & Steelers had to make sure he was OK

— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) December 11, 2018

That is much different than being "in the rhythm and flow of the game," as Tomlin previously said. For his part, Roethlisberger stated that he told Tomlin that he was back on the field, but he was unsure at the time if going back into the game would help or hurt the team. 

Ben Roethlisberger said he got x-rays of his rib at halftime and by the time he got to the locker room, the #Steelers were already on the field. Says x-rays were inconclusive and tho team doc said he could be on field, BR himself was unsure if he would help or hurt team.

— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) December 11, 2018

Ben Roethlisberger says they never got anything conclusive on his ribs during game vs Oakland. But he says, “I told Coach, “I’ll give you everything I got.’” #Steelers

— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) December 11, 2018

Ben Roethlisberger says he communicated w/ Mike Tomlin as soon as he was on the field, but he believes both Tomlin and GM Kevin Colbert were wary of making injury worse. And Tomlin told him, “Let’s see how this plays out.” Ben says he told him: if you need me, I’ll go.

— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) December 11, 2018

This is all pretty strange, but it also doesn't matter all that much. What matters is that the Steelers have now lost three-straight games and are no longer a guarantee to win the AFC North or make the playoffs. They need to get things together quickly. And they'll need Roethlisberger on the field to do it. 

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