Steelers' Roethlisberger misses practice due to illness

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sent home from the team facility and missed practice Wednesday due to an illness.

Roethlisberger will still have several days to recover and prepare for Sunday's regular-season finale against the Cleveland Browns, and there has been no indication that his availability is in question.

Any such absence for a team's star quarterback is somewhat concerning, however, and his status will now be monitored closely as the practice week moves forward.

The Steelers have boasted arguably the NFL's most explosive offense with Roethlisberger at the helm, while the unit was considerably below average in the four games he missed due to injury.

After dropping last week's game to the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh now enters Week 17 action in need of both a win and a New York Jets loss to sneak into the playoffs as an AFC wild-card team.