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It was back to work for the Steelers on Monday after four days off due to the bye weekend.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was among those back on the field, and while he didn’t go full tilt he did get what he referred to as some needed repetitions with the splint and glove he wore.

“It hurts first off to just grip the ball,” said Roethlisberger. “It’s something you’ve got to get used to. Coach (Tomlin) told me not to throw today but I was like ‘I want to get some reps, I want to throw some.’ Obviously I didn’t take any under center snaps but I wanted to get a few reps in, at least get a feel for it.”

Roethlisberger said he expects there to be some pain this week, but it won’t deter him from playing.

“I doubt it goes away this week but it won’t be the first time I’ve played with a little bit of pain,” he said. “We’re just going to take it day by day and I can promise you I’ll be out there.”

One thing he won’t do is numb it because that would impact his ability to throw.

“It wouldn’t be very smart, I don’t think, to numb your hands,” said Roethlisberger. “It’s just dealing with the pain and adrenaline is one of the best pain medicines there is.”

Linebacker LaMarr Woodley also got some work on Monday, slowly working his way back from a hamstring injury that has forced him to miss the last two games.

“It’s day to day,” said Woodley. “It’s getting better. I was limited. I did a few things out there. I had a good practice when I was out there. It’s getting better every day. Each day it’s taking another step to getting better. That is all I have been doing. Each day has been getting better. It’s better than last week.”

The one thing Woodley doesn’t want to do is rush back too fast, potentially causing further injury and forcing him to miss even more time.

“The worst thing about the hamstring is they take time to heal,” said Woodley. “You look at guys across the league coming back too early and the next thing you know they are out two to three more weeks. You see guys re-injure those hamstrings. It’s just being smart about it.”