Maybe Ben Roethlisberger should consider throwing with his left hand.

The Steelers quarterback said on his radio show Tuesday he’s dealing with torn ligaments and a sprain in his right shoulder, though coach Mike Tomlin stressed the team remains hopeful Roethlisberger will be ready for Sunday’s visit to Denver.

‘‘Ben has a chance,’’ Tomlin said. ‘‘We'll manage him day to day.’’

Roethlisberger’s shoulder was driven into the soggy turf at Paul Brown Stadium by linebacker Vontaze Burfict late in the third quarter of last Saturday’s wild-card win over the Bengals.

The two-time Super Bowl champion described the pain as a ‘‘grind or a crunch or something’’ during his weekly appearance on 93.7 The Fan.

There were no plans to send him back in until Cincinnati rallied to take the lead. When Pittsburgh earned one last chance after Ryan Shazier stripped Jeremy Hill, Roethlisberger ambled back onto the field.

‘‘I looked at him, he looked at me, and we knew where we were,’’ Tomlin said. ‘‘Nine years together, that’s reasonable.’’

His arm throbbing and his ability to get the ball down the field with any sort of velocity nonexistent, Roethlisberger — with more than a little help from the Bengals — managed to lead the Steelers on a drive that set up Chris Boswell’s winning field goal.

It was a memorable performance, one that extended Pittsburgh’s season at least another week. It also came at a heavy cost.

Roethlisberger remains in some pretty serious pain while All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown remains in the NFL’s concussion protocol and starting running back DeAngelo Williams remains a longshot to return from a right foot injury.

Tomlin might want to consider replacing his ‘‘next man up’’ mantra with ‘‘last man up’’ considering the circumstances.

Landry Jones will get the majority of snaps in practice early in the week as Pittsburgh prepares for a rematch with the Broncos, whom the Steelers beat, 34-27, on Dec. 20 behind the spectacular play of Brown.

Tomlin admitted the idea of playing without the NFL’s second-leading receiver is ‘‘unpleasant’’ but one he'll have to consider after Brown took a shoulder to the head from Burfict with 22 seconds to go.

‘‘We’re hopeful, we’re always hopeful,’’ Tomlin said. ‘‘We'll do what’s right when all is said and done.’’

Ariz. loses 2 starters

The Cardinals have lost two defensive starters — outside linebacker Alex Okafor and defensive tackle Cory Redding — for the playoffs.

Redding’s loss was not a surprise, Okafor’s was.

On Tuesday, the team placed Okafor on the non-football injury list with an injured toe.

Coach Bruce Arians, clearly unhappy about the development, said Okafor was hurt over the weekend. Asked what had happened, Arians said, ‘‘You've got to talk to Alex.’’

Was it an accident or was Okafor doing something he shouldn’t have been doing?

‘‘Talk to him,’’ Arians said.

That was not possible. Okafor was not in the locker room when reporters were allowed in after practice.

Redding was placed on season-ending injured reserve with an ankle injury. He had missed four games with the ankle injury and aggravated it in the regular-season finale against Seattle.

‘‘He’s going to be at least a month and we decided we needed fresh bodies,’’ Arians said.

The Cardinals signed outside linebacker Jason Babin and promoted outside linebacker Gabe Martin from the practice squad.

Okafor, in his third NFL season after being drafted in the fourth round out of Texas, led the team last season in sacks (8), quarterback pressures (20), and quarterback hits (19). But he had only two sacks this season, both in the season-opening victory over New Orleans.

Okafor had 13 starts this season, missing three games with a calf injury.

The injury means a bigger role for Karim Martin, who was behind Okafor on the depth chart. Rookie Markus Golden starts at the other outside linebacker position, with Dwight Freeney coming on in passing situations.

Babin, a 12-year NFL veteran, played in two games for Baltimore this season.

Babin said he got a call from the Cardinals on Sunday.

‘‘I had a little workout, then got here early [Tuesday] and started studying,’’ he said.

Coughlin, 49ers talk

Former Giants coach Tom Coughlin had an interview scheduled Tuesday with the 49ers about their head coaching vacancy, a person with direct knowledge of the meeting told the Associated Press.

The two-time Super Bowl winning coach was to meet with 49ers general manager Trent Baalke at an unspecified location on the East Coast, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the team isn’t making public its interviews or candidates to replace Jim Tomsula, who was let go immediately after a season-ending 19-16 overtime win over St. Louis on Jan. 3.

San Francisco CEO Jed York was in Houston on Tuesday for the NFL owners meetings.

The Niners, who went 5-11 and missed the playoffs for a second straight season, interviewed Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson in Cincinnati on Sunday after last week’s meetings with fired Eagles coach Chip Kelly and Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter.

Jackson, Browns close

The Browns and Hue Jackson have had a second date. All that’s left is a long-term commitment.

The Bengals’ well-liked offensive coordinator with head coaching experience and a knack for fixing quarterbacks met with Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, who skipped the NFL meetings in Houston to focus on finding his next head coach.

The Browns confirmed Haslam’s second meeting with Jackson, who has emerged as the front-runner to become the team’s eighth coach since 1999 — and sixth since 2008.

Cleveland has not yet extended an offer to the 50-year-old Jackson, who has also interviewed with the 49ers and is expected to meet with the Giants in the next two days.

It’s not known where Haslam’s meeting with Jackson took place, but while it was going on, Dee Haslam, who has owned Cleveland’s franchise with her husband since 2012, attended the meetings and will likely vote on the future of pro football in Los Angeles on behalf of the Browns.

Jackson is the only one of seven candidates to meet twice with Cleveland’s search committee so far. It’s not known if the Browns have any more interviews scheduled. They first met with Jackson on Sunday, a day after the Bengals came unglued in the final minutes and lost to Pittsburgh in a testy AFC wild-card game.

Jackson went 8-8 in his only season coaching the Raiders in 2011. He was fired amid an ownership change and joined Marvin Lewis’s staff in Cincinnati as a defensive assistant. He previously coached the Bengals wide receivers from 2004-06. He has served as Cincinnati’s offensive coordinator the past two seasons.

Vikings ax line coach

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer has fired offensive line coach Jeff Davidson following a season of struggles at the position that began with two veteran starters landing on injured reserve.

Zimmer revealed the decision to not renew Davidson’s contract Tuesday when asked if his entire staff would return for 2016.

Zimmer called the offensive line’s performance ‘‘sporadic’’ and said he has ‘‘no idea’’ whether center John Sullivan and right tackle Phil Loadholt can simply step back in to their spots after sitting out the 2015 season with injuries. Zimmer said he anticipates offensive coordinator Norv Turner to return.

The Vikings finished with the fourth-fewest yards in the league. They were 16th in scoring.

Meanwhile, Bengals defensive backs coach Vance Joseph has been hired as the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator under new coach Adam Gase.

Joseph has been a defensive backs coach in the NFL since 2006. He was with the 49ers for five years and the Texans for three before joining the Bengals in 2014. Joseph played in the NFL in 1995-96.

The Bengals had the fifth-best opposing quarterback rating in the league this season, and ranked third with 21 interceptions.

Miami defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle was fired in October after 3½ seasons and replaced by Lou Anarumo. The Dolphins ranked 22d in points allowed, gave up a franchise-record 4,000 yards passing, and finished 6-10.

The Dolphins also hired Matt Burke as linebackers coach, Chris Foerster as offensive line coach, Shane Day as tight ends coach, and Shawn Jefferson wide receivers coach. Eric Stokes was reassigned from assistant general manager to senior personnel executive.

In Buffalo, defensive backs coach Donnie Henderson is the odd man out after three years as Rex Ryan reshuffles his staff.

Dennis Thurman will take over Henderson’s job. Thurman was the Bills defensive coordinator last year, but his role has been diminished after Ryan hired his twin brother Rob to become the team’s assistant head coach responsible for defense.