Ben Roethlisberger underwent surgery last year after Week 2 to repair three torn tendons in his right elbow.

Roethlisberger said he's had elbow pain "for years", but the feeling was different on a long pass in Week 2 to JuJu Smith-Schuster.

 "On the drive in Seattle, just kind of that pain wasn't really going away," Roethlisberger said Tuesday morning. "I threw one deep one to JuJu down the right side and I really felt a different pain and different discomfort than I ever felt. It was shooting down my arm, and so I knew something was different at that moment."

Roethlisberger had season-ending surgery to reattach three torn flexor tendons in his right elbow.

"They sew through the tendon, and they reattach it to an anchor in your elbow," he said. "As far as I am aware, it's happened to just kind of everyday people on the street, if you will.

"From what I've been told, it's never happened to a quarterback of this magnitude. I believe there was at least another quarterback that had one, maybe two torn off, but from what I understand, not three."