Byron Leftwich

The Pittsburgh Steelers fear quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has suffered a pretty significant injury to his throwing shoulder, an injury that a source close to the team says is probably going to take a while to heal.

Roethlisberger is "extremely sore" Tuesday morning and "hurting pretty bad," the source said. He is headed to get another MRI, which will give the team a better idea of the significance of the injury.

It was being called an "unusual" separation after the game, and Ben headed right for the hospital for an MRI. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reported the team is preparing to be without Ben "at least a few weeks" and that falls right in line with the most recent reports. The Steelers play the Ravens twice in the next three weeks, including this Sunday night, with Cleveland in between those contests. Byron Leftwich would start in place of Roethlisberger should he miss time, which looks to be pretty certain at this point. Expect the Steelers to run a bit more with their three-headed attack of Rashard Mendenhall, Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer - or whatever combo is healthy enough to play, especially considering the Ravens and Browns have struggled to stop the run. This could mean decreased value for WRs Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders and perhaps even TE Heath Miller.