PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Ben Roethlisberger put his injured shoulder to the test on Thursday, but it’s still unclear whether he’ll be ready to play Sunday.

However, one thing is clear. He’s enjoying his new role as a father.

“I’m getting a little bit of rest, yes,” said the Steelers quarterback.

It’s an answer that could apply to either of the main topics in Roethlisberger’s life.

There’s the painful shoulder injury he suffered a couple of weeks ago, but in this case, Roethlisberger was talking about his 1-week-old baby, Benjamin Jr.’s, sleeping habits.

Even with baby talk, his shoulder injury still manages to make it into the conversation.

“I can hold him both ways. Not as long in the right, but I can hold him both ways,” said Roethlisberger. “It’s pretty cool. I don’t know if you ever really… you can tell people about it, but until you’ve actually experienced it. It’s something special.”

It has been a busy week.

Last week at this time, Roethlisberger was still sleeping on a recliner because of the pain in his shoulder, but that has improved quite a bit over the last week.

“I’m better. I’m a lot better,” he said. “I’m sleeping in the bed. I can only sleep in certain positions in bed, but at least I’m in bed. And, you know, it’s gotten better. To know you’re just dealing with pain is something… I can deal with pain.”

That’s the biggest development from the day; Roethlisberger is now evaluating his injury based on pain management rather than the risk of a ruptured aorta.

“According to them, it’s stable in the backside, which I think is posterior,” he said. “So there, you can take a big hit; anything can happen. But from what I understand that aspect of it is okay.”

Just to be safe, Roethlisberger has been working on a Kevlar shell for extra protection. Now, it’s just a question of how many weeks it will be before he needs it.

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