Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger sent home with the flu, not likely to miss Week 17

The Pittsburgh Steelers have lost control of their playoff destiny after their loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore, MD last week. With the team now needing to beat the Cleveland Browns and have the Buffalo Bills defeat the New York Jets in Week 17, the Steelers will need all players primed for a big game against their AFC North rivals.

The only issue the team faces in the early portion of the work week is Ben Roethlisberger being sent home with flu-like symptoms from the team's practice facility on the South Side of Pittsburgh. Head coach Mike Tomlin referred to Roethlisberger suffering from the same flu bug which has hit players like Landry Jones and DeAngelo Williams the past few weeks. The illness is not expected to sideline the Steelers' starting quarterback for the Week 17 visit to Cleveland, OH.

Mike Tomlin tells Cleveland media Ben Roethlisberger likely has same 24-48 hour bug bunch of folks in this bldg have had recently

— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) December 30, 2015

The question has been raised whether Roethlisberger was ill during the team's most recent loss to the Ravens, but such questions and answers are merely speculation at this point. The Steelers vs. Browns game will be played at the same time as the Jet vs. Bill game, which should make for some interesting scoreboard watching in both Orchard Park, NY and Cleveland, OH.