Rashard Mendenhall leaned on his crutches and bowed his head.
The pain wasn't unbearable for Pittsburgh's leading rusher. However, the thought of missing the AFC playoffs might have been too much to handle.
And the Steelers will likely be without Mendenhall, who went down after a 5-yard gain in the first quarter and didn't return.
"It's not good, of course, when a guy goes down in open grass and is not touched by anyone," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "Experience tells me that in general that's not good."
Tomlin said Mendenhall would have tests after the team got back to Pittsburgh. But the Steelers already seemed resigned to not having Mendenhall for their wild-card game -- or maybe at all.
"You should anticipate that he won't be participating next week," Tomlin said.
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