STEELERS Maddox released with clean bill of health

The quarterback has permission to decide when he can return to practice.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox is out of the hospital, fully recovered in less than two days from a spinal cord injury that easily could have been much worse.
How long it takes him to get over the emotional stress of the scary experience may determine how quickly he returns -- and how well he plays once he does.
Maddox breezed through tests for his cerebral and spinal cord concussions Tuesday before being released from a Pittsburgh hospital, glad to be out but weary from the frightful ordeal.
Now comes the hard part: Putting the kind of injury that every athlete fears behind him, something not all players can easily do.
"There certainly is a psychological effect," said Joseph Maroon, the neurosurgeon who treated Maddox. "When you're lying on a football field, unable to feel your arms or legs and unable to move, I can't imagine a more frightening experience. I've seen this in quite a few athletes, and they haven't returned to function."
Upper back hit
Maddox lay motionless for more than 10 minutes Sunday after being hit in the upper back by Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck, causing Maddox to lose consciousness and twist his head as he struck the ground. Steelers players prayed and held hands as they watched Maddox being placed on a backboard and lifted into an ambulance.
"What he's been through is quite a shock," Maroon said.
That's why the Steelers are leaving the timing of Maddox's return up to him. Kordell Stewart will replace him Sunday against Cincinnati, and likely will start the following week against Jacksonville.
Steelers coach Bill Cowher also isn't ready to say who will start once Maddox is back.
Maddox hadn't started an NFL game in 10 years until last month, only to quickly become one of the league's most productive passers. He threw for a team-record 473 yards on Nov. 10, the week before he was hurt.
"Right now, all we're looking at is Tommy Maddox's health," Cowher said. "I'm not going down that road."
For now, Maddox's only physical problem is catching up on the sleep he lost during two days of tests and checkups in two hospitals in two cities. His body also must recover from a massive steroid injection, given as a precaution in case the spinal cord injury was severe.
"When you get as high a dose of steroids as he got, you're flying, and it can lead to depression once you're off it," Maroon said. "But I asked another of his doctors about his mood, and he said he's been perfectly level.
"He is perfectly normal. Everything is absolutely, perfectly normal."