Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger plans to practice in full this week

Landry Jones’ first NFL start might have to wait.

After beginning his third season in Pittsburgh as the Steelers’ third-string quarterback behind Ben Roethlisberger and Michael Vick, Jones suddenly found himself in the QB1 position in the second half of Sunday’s game against the Cardinals, as Roethlisberger remained sidelined with a knee injury and Vick was suffering from a combination of a dirt in his eye, a hamstring tweak and just plain poor performance.

After completing eight of his 12 passes — the first dozen throws of his NFL career — for 168 yards and a pair of touchdowns in an impressive 25-13 win against the Arizona Cardinals, Jones grabbed the starting QB reins in Roethlisberger’s absence. Except, Big Ben might be closer to a return than initially thought.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ron Cook, Roethlisberger will practice in full this week and hasn’t ruled out a return from his MCL sprain and bone bruise against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

“We’re going to tape it and brace it and I’m going to see what I can do,” Roethlisberger said after the Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals, 25-13, Sunday at Heinz Field. “My plan is to go out Wednesday and practice. We’ll see what happens. I know I’ve got to be smart about it. I’ve got to be able to defend myself. We’re just going to take it day by day.”

Sunday marks the first pane of a window that originally had Roethlisberger missing 4-6 weeks. He suffered the knee injury in the third quarter of a Week 3 win over the St. Louis Rams, and reports prior to Sunday’s game against the Cardinals figured Roethlisberger to be “a long shot” against the Chiefs.

Which still might be the case.

The Steelers have done well to tread water without their two-time Super Bowl champion QB at the helm, defeating the Chargers in San Diego and the Cardinals at home in a span of six days to improve to 4-2. And Landry’s effort might give the Steelers enough confidence to hold Roethlisberger out another week and hope he’s healthier for a showdown with the division-leading Cincinnati Bengals in Week 8.

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach