PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger delivered a pretty good Christmas present to Steelers fans Wednesday morning.
The franchise quarterback, who has been on the injured reserve list since his Week 2 injury, tweeted reassurances he'd be back on the field in 2020.
P.S. Contrary to recent reports out there about my football future and my 'uncertainty' about playing again, I am working hard and am more determined than ever to come back stronger and better than ever next year!
— BigBen7.com (@_BigBen7) December 25, 2019
ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported earlier this week that Roethlisberger had elbow surgery after his injury to reattach three tendons. The quarterback hasn't been cleared to throw yet, but he is tracking to be back for the 2020 season.
Although he hasn't been able to play, Roethlisberger has been around the team throughout his rehab and has been on the sideline for almost all of the games. He also has helped rookie undrafted quarterback Devlin "Duck" Hodges, who will start this week's regular-season finale in Baltimore after Mason Rudolph went on IR with a season-ending sternoclavicular joint shoulder injury suffered against the New York Jets.
"Obviously, Ben, playing as long as he has, I'm sure he's been in some of these must-win games," Hodges said Wednesday. "I believe they were in a must-win game last year. Mason, obviously being around me. Both those guys, they help me out with little things here and there. It's good to have those guys around."