One of the underlying storylines around the Pittsburgh Steelers over the last few weeks has been the health of Pro Bowl quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with a lingering elbow injury that he suffered in the season opener tie against the Cleveland Browns.

It is something that the Steelers have continued to monitor with each passing week despite Roethlisberger downplaying any significance to it in terms of impacting his play on the field. According to Chris Adamski of Triblive.com, offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner has voiced that there is no clarity on the complete status of the injury, but the 36-year-old will have a chance to get some extra rest with the Week 7 bye coming up after Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

“I don’t know that it’s completely healthy,” Fichtner said of that Roethlisberger’s right elbow that was injured late in the Week 1 tie at Cleveland, “but I don’t know that in any given season anyone — or any arm — is going to be completely healthy all the time.

“We try to do the right things to manage numbers of throws in the week, and I know that after this weekend he will get an extended rest and it will be good for him. But as far as being able to make throws, he can make the throws, and as far as practice, he can practice.”

There hasn't been any notable drop off or impact on Roethlisberger's play since suffering the injury. He is coming off a solid performance in the 41-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons where he completed 19-of-29 passes for 250 yards along with three touchdown passes to one interception. In the last four games, he has thrown for at least three touchdown passes three times over that stretch.

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Roethlisberger may not express any concern with the injury in any manner to avoid any more things to overcome for the Steelers, but it is something that he's more than willing to play through for the rest of the season. The bye week should give him a chance to allow his elbow to get some rest and heal.

The Steelers have a crucial game ahead of them against the Bengals that could play a big factor in their race for the AFC North division title, which will likely call for another strong outing from Roethlisberger to pull it out on the road.