Last Roethlisberger update of the night:

The Worldwide Leader is reporting that Big Ben is out of surgery and that the doctors are not confirming any knee injuries:

"He suffered multiple facial fractures," Pituch said. "All of the fractures were successfully repaired. His brain, spine, chest and abdomen appear to be without serious injury. And there are no other confirmed injuries at this time."

Hopefully that means he'll only be out for the roughly seven weeks it will take for the jaw fracture and the other various injuries to heal. The pre-season starts on August 12th at Arizona, a short eight weeks away, but the real season opener isn't until September 7th at home against Miami and if Roethlisberger's pre-season performance last season (not a single touchdown drive) is any indication then resting for the pre-season and stepping back in for the opener shouldn't be a problem. Even if he isn't ready by then, it's possible that he could sit until the first division game, a 9/24 match up with Cincinnati. Worst case scenario, Charlie Batch will step in as the starter, the Steelers will have to begin developing Omar Jacobs as the new QB post haste, or Tommy Maddox can be called back. Of the three options, Batch holding things down til Big Ben's return is the most comfortable. Jacobs isn't ready to play QB in the NFL, and I imagine he's being groomed as a receiver to replace Randle El , and the idea of Tommy Maddox under center again should send chills down the spine of any Steelers fan. But let's just hope none of that will be necessary...