PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers will likely head into their showdown with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots without Ben Roethlisberger.
A person with knowledge of the procedure says the Steelers quarterback underwent surgery to repair the meniscus in his left knee on Monday.
Roethlisberger tweaked the knee in the second quarter of Sunday's 30-15 loss to the Miami Dolphins and left briefly before returning. He underwent an MRI on Sunday night, which revealed the extent of the damage.
There is no timetable on Roethlisberger's return. Landry Jones will take snaps with the starters this week. Jones played in seven games last season while filling in for Roethlisberger, throwing for 513 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions (see full story).
Broncos: Kubiak returns from week hiatus
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Gary Kubiak bristled at the suggestion he might still be worn down after a week away from football.
"No, do I look weak?" the Denver Broncos coach said.
Well, truthfully, his voice was a little bit faint.
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"That's probably because I've been hollering a lot this morning," Kubiak said. "But, no, I feel good. And I feel really good just getting out here and getting going again."
Kubiak, 55, returned to work Monday, a week after his doctor ordered him to take time off after he suffered a complex migraine and was hospitalized overnight following Denver's loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 9.
Kubiak certainly had plenty to howl about.
During his absence, the Broncos, led by special teams coach Joe DeCamillis, were beaten 21-13 by the San Diego Chargers, who snapped their 10-game losing streak in the AFC West and Denver's NFL record 15-game divisional road winning streak (see full story).
49ers: Kelly sticking with Kaepernick at QB
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Colin Kaepernick showed flashes of the quarterback he used to be in his first start in nearly a year.
He used his athleticism to turn a possible safety into a 10-yard run , connected on a deep touchdown pass to Torrey Smith and scrambled when he had no open receivers for a 29-yard gain .
But far too often in Sunday's 45-16 loss at Buffalo, Kaepernick looked more like the quarterback who lost his starting job a year ago to Blaine Gabbert than the one who went to a Super Bowl and NFC title game in his first two years as starter.
Kaepernick completed just 13 of 29 passes for 187 yards and missed a handful of open receivers with off-target throws as the 49ers (1-5) scored a season-low 16 points on the way to their first five-game losing streak in six years.
Despite all that, coach Chip Kelly said he saw enough bright spots to give Kaepernick another shot on Sunday against Tampa Bay.
"I think there are some things he did on Sunday that you can build upon," Kelly said Monday. "For his first extended playing time since last year, I thought there were some real positives there that we need to continue to kind of try to build with him and get him going" (see full story).