PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Monday that Ben Roethlisberger spent the weekend in a clinic being evaluated as part of the sanctions handed down by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
The newspaper cited an unidentified team source saying the evaluation will take days rather than weeks. Goodell suspended the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback six games without pay last month.
A Steelers spokesman said the team is prohibited by league rule from discussing Roethlisberger's treatment.
The two-time Super Bowl winner was ordered to undergo a "comprehensive behavioral evaluation by professionals" after violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. Goodell announced the punishment a week after prosecutors decided not to charge Roethlisberger in a case involving a 20-year-old college student who accused the quarterback of sexually assaulting her in a Milledgeville, Ga., nightclub.
"I have talked to him," coach Mike Tomlin said on Sunday, according to the report. "I will continue to talk to him, and I don't have a crystal ball in regards to when he's going to be back in the [Steelers'] facility. A lot of that has to do with the things he needs to do and of course the judgment of the commissioner."