Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, suffered an injury to his right foot or ankle at the very end of the team’s last training camp practice. There was no immediate word as to how long he will be out or how seriously he was hurt.

As Roethlisberger was carted off following Thursday’s workout, his ankle had an ice pack on the back of it. He was accompanied off the field by Bruce Arians, the team’s offensive coordinator. Roethlisberger didn’t speak to reporters, but was overheard saying, yeah it feels great, just like it was run over by a car.

Mike Tomlin, Steelers coach, did not talk with reporters either. Dave Lockett, team spokesman, just said that someone had stepped on Roethlisberger’s foot and that the team didn’t have any other updates. The Steelers starting offense was practicing against the team’s starting defense. Max Starks, left tackle, mishandled a rush from James Harrison, linebacker and NFL 2008 Defensive Player of the Year. Starks fell to one knee, tripping Roethlisberger in the process. Roethlisberger stayed down on the turf for approximately five minutes.

After Roethlisberger was treated by John Norwig, team athletic trainer, he spent the remainder of the practice siting on top of a cooler. He had a noticeable limp when he walked gingerly from the sideline so that he could join the midfield huddle at the end of practice. Before leaving in a golf cart, he grabbed a towel and draped it over his head.

Usually when a player suffers a serious injury during any Steelers practice, they are immediately removed from the field and take to the hospital. This could be an indication that the injury suffered by Roethlisberger is not too serious and could be just a sprain. This was suggested by Starks who said that his feet were fine and that his ankle was sprained.

Starks isn’t exactly sure how Roethlisberger was injured, but didn’t hear any tearing or popping noise as the team’s quarterback went down, which could signal the possibility of a serious injury.

Starks said that James Harrison had been bull rushing. He added that he didn’t know if he had bumped into Roethlisberger or what had happened behind him, and that he had been too busy trying to block Harrison. He (Roethlisberger) was tripped up and fell. Roethlisberger didn’t talk to teammates about how he was feeling but was overheard saying that he could be all right.

Starks said that Roethlisberger didn’t want to talk about right then, but was sure that he would address the team upstairs.

The injury to Roethlisberger was only the team’s second major mishap during their three week training camp. Darnell Stapleton, right guard, had to have knee surgery during the first week of camp. Roethlisberger’s injury brought his training camp to an abrupt end, in what was probably his best training camp in six NFL seasons.

Arians said that he had shown an accurate and strong arm for the past several weeks after he had felt some soreness for a few days. He added that Roethlisberger’s arm was really alive.

Roethlisberger will certainly sit out Saturday’s exhibition game in Washington. Before opening their season against Tennessee on September 10, the Super Bowl champions have two additional exhibition games.

In 2006, which was the last year that the Steelers were coming into a season having won the Super Bowl, Roethlisberger was in a motorcycle crash just six weeks before training camp opened and suffered severe facial injuries. He then missed the opening game following an appendectomy.

Most of the Steelers practices are held on one of three grass fields at Saint Vincent College, but the second Thursday practice, their final one of training camp, was on artificial turf due to rain earlier that day. There were no signs that the turf contributed to Roethlisberger’s injury.