Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger dealt with hand injury in loss vs. Saints

The Pittsburgh Steelers offense struggled early in Sunday's loss to the New Orleans Saints. A big reason for this may have been what happened to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in the first quarter.

Roethlisberger hit his hand on Saints linebacker Curtis Lofton when following through on a throw. He was seen constantly favoring the hand afterwards.

The 11th-year veteran denied the injury having any effect on his throwing ability throughout the game, but it's certainly something to monitor heading into next week.

“I am sure every quarterback has that happen every game,” Roethlisberger said, according to Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “Does it hurt? Yeah. Did it affect my throwing? No.”

Roethlisberger at least appears to be in good shape coming out of the game. He shook of the early struggles to finish with 435 yards passing and two fourth-quarter touchdowns that almost saw the Steelers complete the comeback.