By Scouts Inc.'s Matt Williamson

With Ben Roethlisberger expected to be suspended for the first four to six games of the 2010 season, the quarterback job will likely belong to Dennis Dixon. However, the re-signing of Charlie Batch does provide further insurance in case the youngster is not up to the task. And, most recently, the Steelers traded a late pick to bring Byron Leftwich back to Pittsburgh.

What does Dixon bring to the table? If Dixon had not injured his knee during his senior year at Oregon, he probably would have been drafted in the second or third round and viewed as a potential starter in this league. But because of the injury, the Steelers were able to acquire him later, in the fifth round, and more or less redshirt him as he learned. This will be his third NFL season and he should have a pretty strong feel for his teammates and the offensive system that Pittsburgh runs.
...

FROM NFL PRESS RELEASE

COMMISSIONER ROGER GOODELL notified Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback BEN ROETHLISBERGER today that he 1) must undergo a comprehensive behavioral evaluation by medical professionals and 2) will be suspended without pay for the first six games of the regular season for conduct detrimental to the NFL in violation of the league’s Personal Conduct Policy.

After consultation with Commissioner Goodell, Steelers President ART ROONEY and the commissioner informed Roethlisberger by telephone today of the two-step approach that is designed to hold Roethlisberger accountable for his conduct and provide him an opportunity to change his behavior and establish himself as a responsible individual.
...

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Wide receiver Limas Sweed returned to the practice field with his Steelers teammates today after spending time on injured reserve last season for issues not related to an injury.

"I am excited to be back on the field and back in the locker room with my teammates," Sweed said in a statement issued through the ballclub before practice today. "I appreciate all the support I received from the Steelers organization while I dealt with some personal issues at the end of the 2009 season. I have been working diligently and I am focused on the remainder of the offseason in getting myself prepared to have a great 2010 season."
...

By Gregg Doyel CBSSports.com

I don't want to live in a world where an accusation is tantamount to a conviction. That's what happened in Salem, Mass., a few centuries ago. People were accused of witchcraft. Proof? There was no proof, just accusations. But accusations were enough. And so innocent people died.

I don't want to live there.

Roger Goodell lives there.

Roger Goodell scares the hell out of me.

And it wasn't always this way. When Goodell as NFL commissioner unveiled his personal conduct policy in 2007, it was new, needed, even noble. The policy read, and I quote, "It will be considered conduct detrimental [for league personnel] to engage in ... violent and/or criminal activity." The policy went on to describe the line in the sand that could not be crossed, and that line was this: an arrest or a legal charge. A player didn't have to be convicted of a crime to be suspended; he had to be "arrested or charged," a phrase that appeared three times in the conduct policy.
...

CBSSports.com wire reports

PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger will line up under center, take the snap and throw his first pass to a teammate since the Steelers ended the season Jan. 3.

There won't be any applause.

There likely won't be much reaction from his teammates, who have seen the highest-paid player in franchise history go through this routine countless times in games and practices since 2004.

There will be countless questions.

For the Steelers, the most pressing is this: Who will be taking snaps in September?

The Steelers return to the practice field Monday for the first time since their 9-7 record wasn't good enough to get them into the playoffs. Roethlisberger is expected to be among them, one week to the day since prosecutors decided not to charge him after a college student accused him of sexual assault.
...