Ben Roethlisberger was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Friday evening and has been ruled out for the Pittsburgh Steelers game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
#Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is on the Reserve/COVID-19 list and is out vs the #Lions.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 14, 2021
Mason Rudolph is expected to start at quarterback for the Steelers on Sunday.
The Steelers were 8-point favorites as of Friday evening when the news dropped. They opened as 7.5-point favorites.
"I dropped my line from Steelers -7.5, 42 to Steelers -6, 40.5," said The Action Network fantasy expert Chris Raybon.
DraftKings re-opened Pittsburgh as a 6.5-point favorite, with a total of 41.
Mike Tomlin is 20-12-2 against the spread when Roethlisberger does not start for the Steelers. Rudolph is 7-2 against the spread as a starter.
Rudolph threw for 1,765 yards, 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions in 2019 when he played in 10 games, eight of which were starts.
Roethlisberger told the Dan Patrick Show that he is in fact vaccinated, "I don't know who on our team is and isn't [vaccinated]. I know I am so I don't have to have my mask on [around the facility]."
Big Ben shows us his tracer, tells us he's vaccinated, and about the safety protocol he goes through daily at the #Steelers facility. pic.twitter.com/WD3MxepA5N
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) November 5, 2021
The Steelers were already coming off of a short week, after playing on Monday Night Football, and now have to play without their starting quarterback
It's unclear whether or not Rudolph has gotten any first-team reps with the news dropping so close to the game.
This could be an ideal week for the third-year quarterback to lean on the ground game.
Pittsburgh rookie Najee Harris paces all running backs in snap share, opportunity share and weighted opportunities, among a bevy of additional categories.
The Lions are looking for their first win of the season, although they are 4-4 against the spread this season.
