Maurkice Pouncey says Ben Roethlisberger’s elbow has been bothering him for years

The Pittsburgh Steelers have lost their franchise quarterback for the remainder of the 2019 regular season due to an undisclosed elbow injury. The injury will require surgery and will shelve Ben Roethlisberger on injured reserve for the first time in his career.

While the team gets acclimated with life without Roethlisberger, reports circulated shortly after the Seattle Seahawks game in Week 2 how the elbow injury had been bothering him for the past few weeks.

This would explain the reason the team gave Roethlisberger Wednesday off so early in the season, but what has recently been reported is this elbow injury isn’t just something Roethlisberger was dealing leading up to the season, but something which has bothered him for years.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN recently went onto Sportscenter to talk about a conversation he had with Maurkice Pouncey, Roethlisberger’s closest friend on the team, and Pouncey admitted Roethlisberger has been dealing with this injury for a long time.

Check the video below:

When hearing this news it makes certain things come into focus. For instance, all those times when fans were angry over Roethlisberger getting every Wednesday off of practice, it makes sense the team was trying to keep their quarterback as healthy as possible.

Another aspect of this story which comes to light with this news is how the elbow discomfort might have hindered his performance. When people wondered where the deep ball accuracy went, when some thought Roethlisberger had lost some zip on his passes and when some thought he didn’t have “it” anymore, was it all because of this lingering injury?

Either way, the Steelers now turn to Mason Rudolph for the next 14 games, and Roethlisberger’s future is anything but certain. Coming off surgery on his throwing arm, Roethlisberger will be 38 when he returns in 2020, something he says he still wants to do, and Rudolph’s success will have a lot to do with what role Roethlisberger will have in the future.

Stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes as the Steelers prepare for the San Francisco 49ers in Week 3.