Big Ben missing practice is scary: Could his elbow unhinge Steelers?

The 2018 NFL season is only a week old, and already attrition is taking a major toll. In Week 1 there were numerous concussions, pulled hamstrings and knee sprains, but the following injuries will have long-term consequences:

• Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger probably will play Sunday against Kansas City, but he’s hampered by an elbow injury.  He had three interceptions and two fumbles in a 21-21 tie at Cleveland,  Coach Mike Tomlin did not attribute the turnovers to what he termed a “minor” injury. 

But any sort of impairment of a thrower’s elbow is concerning.  If he were a baseball pitcher, he almost surely would be skipping a start.

• A more serious injury, though perhaps not as consequential to his team, is a broken hand suffered by Pittsburgh’s All-Pro guard David DeCastro.  He will be fitted for a hand cast, which depending on its size and flexibility could detract significantly from his blocking effectiveness for much of the season.  

• Atlanta’s rapidly developing strong-safety, Keanu Neal, suffered a torn ACL that ends his season.

• More bad news for the Falcons:  Fast and furious middle linebacker Deion Jones has a foot fracture that landed him on Injured Reserve.  He will be out for at least two months, though the team is hopeful of a return to action soon after that.

• Delanie Walker, Pro Bowl tight end of the Tennessee Titans, suffered a gruesome leg injury near the end of Sunday’s game in Miami.  A dislocated ankle combined with a fracture ended his season.  Walker is 33, so this injury is career-threatening.  

• Similar situation with Carolina’s Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen, who missed half of last season with a fractured foot.  He left Sunday’s game against Dallas with a hyperextended knee.  After the game he was on crutches and wearing a walking boot and was described as looking “defeated.”   The Panthers said he’s on a “month to month” watch.  But at his age, 33, his career is likely over.

• Double whammy for Carolina: Talented right tackle Daryl Williams was carted off the field in Charlotte with an aggravation of a torn ligament in his right knee.  He’s expected to miss multiple games if not the remainder of the season.  

• Seantrell Henderson, right tackle of the Houston Texans, was trying to block Trey Flowers during Sunday’s game in New England, and when he fell to the ground, the Patriots’ Keionta Davis landed on his left ankle and caused a season-ending fracture. 

Henderson had been a pleasant surprise for the Texans and a genuine feelgood story.  The well-proportioned 6-8, 340-pound tackle made the NFL’s All-Rookie team in 2014.  But the next year he was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease, an intestinal ailment for which there’s no cure.  He missed three years of action while undergoing treatment and surgeries.  

He was making a remarkable comeback, playing solidly throughout the preseason and in the first quarter of the season opener, before it ended for him.

• Doug Baldwin, leading receiver of the Seattle Seahawks, has suffered sprains of ligaments in both knees.  He said he will not have full recovery this season.   He played Sunday at Denver but was targeted only once and did not have a reception.  The Seahawks ruled him out of the Monday night game in Chicago and said he probably will miss the following week as well.