PITTSBURGH -- He insists the growth on his face from the bye week is not a playoff beard, it's simply a beard.
But Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has reasons to feel refreshed coming off the bye. The swelling in his sprained foot has subsided. He'll continue to wear a brace on his knee, which he sprained in Week 3. The offense has the next month to improve its 23.6 points-per-game average.
"We've all been kind of waiting on it," said Roethlisberger of the bye week leading into the final six-game stretch.
Roethlisberger has been studying the Seattle Seahawks' Legion of Boom.