PROFILES » Ben Roethlisberger’s ribs are bruised but not broken.

The Pittsburgh Steelers believe the same could be said about their wildly uneven season.Roethlisberger believes he’ll play on Sunday when New England visits Heinz Field Renell Wren Jersey , one of the few certainties for a team in search of answers thanks to a three-game losing streak, the latest setback a baffling 24-21 defeat in Oakland that included Roethlisberger missing most of the second half after taking a shot to the ribs, another late meltdown by the defense and the latest botched kick by Chris Boswell.“Whenever talking about consistent failures in recent weeks, it’s usually a multitude of things,” coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday. “It’s all of the above. We’re open to change, going to make discussions regarding change.”Starting, potentially, at placekicker.Boswell was a Pro Bowler in 2017 — a season in which he drilled three game-winning field goals — and signed a contract extension in August that runs through 2022. Yet he has struggled with consistency this season.When his left foot gave way on the final snap in Oakland, turning his potentially game-tying 40-yard attempt into a line drive that smacked into the sea of players in front of him http://www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-michael-jordan-jersey , it marked his 11th missed kick this season (six field goals, five extra points). He missed just 13 combined kicks from 2015-17.Tomlin said the team plans “to explore options that gives us the very best chances of the ball going through the upright this weekend.” That includes holding tryouts to give others a look, though Tomlin admitted there isn’t exactly much to choose from in mid-December.“We’re cognizant of what’s available,” Tomlin said. “The prudent approach is to include Chris in those options.”There are no such questions at quarterback despite an odd sequence in Oakland that led to Roethlisberger standing on the sideline in the fourth quarter while backup Josh Dobbs tried to build on a four-point lead.The issue? Apparently an ancient X-ray machine at the Coliseum that offered no clarity on the extent of the rib injury Roethlisberger sustained while being driven into the ground late in the second quarter.Roethlisberger, team physician James Bradley and general manager Kevin Colbert spent all of halftime trying to get a clean X-ray but none surfaced.“We never had a full understanding of what the injury was,” Tomlin said. “The medical staff treated (Roethlisberger) to the best of our abilities.”Treatment that included “medicating” the 36-year-old quarterback while also keeping him out of the game as a precaution.Tomlin likened the approach to the one the team took during a wild-card game in Cincinnati three years ago in which Roethlisberger hurt his right (throwing) shoulder at the end of the third quarter.In that game, Roethlisberger stayed off the field until the Bengals rallied to take the lead in the final minutes. Roethlisberger came on and — with more than a little help from Cincinnati — helped the Steelers rally to the victory .It nearly happened again in Oakland. Roethlisberger completed all six of his passes on Pittsburgh’s penultimate drive, the last a 1-yard touchdown pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster that put Pittsburgh in front 21-17.“We would only re-insert him if we felt it was necessary,” Tomlin said. “We appreciate what he was able to do … obviously it didn’t end in the way that we would like.”Roethlisberger said during his weekly radio appearance Tuesday he expects to face the Patriots (9-4).Tomlin indicated pain management will be the biggest concern. Roethlisberger rarely practices on Wednesdays and there’s a chance he could be given an additional day off.Tomlin said the team did not file a complaint with the league about the X-ray machine in Oakland and declined to use it as an excuse for any of the decision-making on the sideline or the play on the field. He’s well aware Pittsburgh’s issues extend far beyond Boswell Greedy Williams Jersey , sloppy turf or outdated medical equipment.The defense has allowed second-half leads to get away each of the past three weeks. The Raiders, who came in tied with San Francisco for the worst record in the league, went the length of the field twice in the final 10 minutes, just as the Los Angeles Chargers at Heinz Field did the week prior while storming back from a 16-point deficit to pull out a 33-30 victory.While Tomlin cautioned the defensive tweaks he’s considering might not be “noticeable to the naked eye” he’s aware the Steelers — their AFC North lead over Baltimore down to a half-game — are in serious need of a kick-start.“We’re not going to hope and wish,” Tomlin said. “We’re not going to go through our process in the manner of which we have and hope that the outcome changes.”NOTES: RB James Conner (ankle) could return against New England. Conner missed his first game of the season last week after getting hurt late against the Chargers. … RT Marcus Gilbert (knee) could return to practice. Gilbert hasn’t played since mid-October. Justin Smoak isn’t a fan of extra innings, so he was doubly happy about his game-winning homer against the slumping Detroit Tigers.

Smoak led off the bottom of the ninth with a home run and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Detroit 4-3 on Saturday, handing the Tigers their 11th straight loss.

”Honestly, nobody wants to play extra innings,” Smoak said. ”To be able to do it in the ninth and get it over with is always a good feeling.”

This is Detroit’s longest losing streak since an 11-game skid in August 2003 http://www.brownsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-sione-takitaki-jersey , the year the Tigers lost 119 times. The Tigers last lost 12 straight in 1996.

Three of Detroit’s 11 defeats, including the past two, have been one-run losses. The Tigers are 13-13 in one-run decisions.

”There’s things we can do better but we’re not playing bad,” Tigers starter Matt Boyd said. ”It may seem dire, but it’s not. We’re close to where we want to be and we’re going to come out on the other end of this.”

Smoak connected against reliever Joe Jimenez (3-1) for his 11th homer of the season. It was the second walk-off drive of his career, with the other coming in 2016 against Texas.

Smoak, who hit a two-run homer in Friday’s 3-2 win, has gone deep in back-to-back games for the first time this season.

”I’m just trying to be aggressive and it’s been better as of late,” he said.

Seunghwan Oh (4-2) worked one inning for the win. Randal Grichuk also homered for the Blue Jays Sheldrick Redwine Jersey , who have won 10 of 11 at home.

John Hicks hit a solo homer in the Detroit second off Sam Gaviglio and Nick Castellanos made it 3-0 with a two-run shot in the third, his 12th.

Boyd held the Blue Jays hitless until Kevin Pillar’s leadoff double in the fifth. Pillar moved to third on a one-out single by Aledmys Diaz and scored on a groundout by Devon Travis before Grichuk hit his tying homer.

”He was leaving the ball up just a little too much where they could get the bat head to it,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Boyd allowed three runs and four hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out seven.

”I made a few mistakes today and one of them went over the fence,” Boyd said.

Gaviglio gave up three runs and four hits in seven innings, matching his longest outing of the season.

Leonys Martin and Castellanos hit consecutive singles off Joe Biagini in the eighth but the Blue Jays right-hander retired the next three batters in order.

”We had runners in position a couple of times,” Gardenhire said. ”We just didn’t come up with the big one.”

Martin helped preserve the 3-3 tie in the bottom of the eighth by throwing out Travis at home plate. Travis was trying to score from second on Yangervis Solarte’s single to center, but couldn’t beat Martin’s one-hop throw. The assist was Martin’s ninth, tying him with Seattle’s Mitch Haniger for the AL lead.

With a heat alert in place for Toronto, the retractable roof at Rogers Centre was kept closed. The outdoor temperature was 88 degrees http://www.brownsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-austin-seibert-jersey , with high humidity making it feel like 106.

CAGED TIGERS

Detroit has lost 12 of 14 in Toronto.

CRIME DOESN’T PAY

Blue Jays C Luke Maile threw out two runners attempting to steal, both at second base. Maile threw out Jeimer Candelario in the first and Grayson Greiner in the seventh.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: RHP Alex Wilson had to leave in the eighth because of a sore left calf. Wilson missed almost a month earlier this season because of a strain in his left foot. … RHP Drew VerHagen (nasal fracture) will join Triple A Toledo Saturday night to begin an injury rehabilitation assignment. VerHagen has been out since June 20.

Blue Jays: Toronto put RHP Ryan Tepera (elbow) on the 10-day disabled list and recalled RHP Jake Petricka from Triple-A Buffalo.

UP NEXT

Tigers RHP Jordan Zimmermann (2-0, 4.35) faces Blue Jays LHP J.A. Happ (10-3, 3.62) on Canada Day in Toronto. Zimmermann allowed seven runs in his previous start against Toronto on June 8, 2016. Happ has won six straight decisions and is unbeaten in eight outings.

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