Ben Roethlisberger needed only one series of a supposedly meaningless game to play better than he did at any time during last year's preseason.

Those nine snaps that Roethlisberger took Saturday in Arizona likely will be long forgotten by the time the Steelers' regular season is winding down in December. So will the three passes he completed in four attempts for 29 yards, or the sack he took after scrambling to his right to try to avoid the Cardinals' pass rush.

But to suggest that the game meant nothing to the Steelers and Roethlisberger would be incorrect. Perhaps no exhibition game during Bill Cowher's 15 seasons as coach meant more, if only because the 21-13 loss showed that the Steelers probably don't have to wonder any longer if Roethlisberger's recovery from his scary June 12 motorcycle accident is complete.

He took the hit that Cowher didn't really want him to take, but one the Steelers felt was necessary to show he is ready to deal again with the physical demands of playing quarterback in the NFL. He showed no problems with his delivery, play-calling or ability to read defenses.

Roethlisberger showed no problems, period, and that was a big improvement from an August ago.

"He looked fine," said Cowher, who had told Roethlisberger in advance that he would play one series — and only one. "I liked the way he was out there. He looked good in the pocket. He made some plays. It was good he had the chance to get hit a couple of times."

That he was playing exactly two months after needing seven hours of surgery to repair a jaw that was broken in four places, his nose and some orbital bones following his motorcycle wreck struck Roethlisberger as being more than relevant.

He is very aware of how far he's come, and how fast he has done so, even if he keeps insisting it's no big deal and he's tired of answering persistent questions about it.

"I feel I could go right now," Roethlisberger said of the Steelers' Sept. 7 opener against Miami. "It's not me. It's how much do we need the offense to start clicking."

DOLPHINS

LINEBACKER SEAU WILL ANNOUNCE RETIREMENT

Junior Seau, a 12-time Pro Bowl linebacker who played with the San Diego Chargers and the Miami Dolphins during a 16-year NFL career, will announce his retirement today.

Seau will make the announcement at a news conference at Chargers Park today afternoon, the team said in a statement yesterday.

The 37-year-old Seau spent the past three seasons with Miami after being acquired from San Diego.

He was released by the Dolphins in March after missing 17 games the past two years due to injury. He finished both seasons on injured reserve, and an Achilles tendon injury limited him to seven games in 2005. Seau ended the 2004 season on injured reserve because of a torn pectoral muscle.

In spring 2003 the Chargers, feeling that Seau's best years were behind him, allowed his agent to shop for a trade. Seau then was sent to Miami.

CULPEPPER WILL LIKELY SEE MORE GAME ACTION

Daunte Culpepper can expect to see more playing time when Miami visits Tampa Bay next.

How much remains to be seen.

"I do think he needs to play a little bit more, maybe in each game," Dolphins coach Nick Saban said yesterday, a day after Culpepper was in for the first six plays of Miami's 31-26 preseason loss to Jacksonville. "How we manage that has not been determined to this point."

BROWNS

CORNERBACK BAXTER OPTIMISTIC ON OPENER

Cornerback Gary Baxter is the latest Cleveland starter to be sidelined by injury, but the team is optimistic he will be back for the regular-season opener Sept. 10 vs. New Orleans.

Baxter strained his left pectoral muscle on the first play from scrimmage Thursday in Cleveland's preseason opener in Philadelphia. No surgery is scheduled, and the recovery time is estimated at three to four weeks.

Baxter missed the last 10 games of 2005 — his first season with the Browns after signing a free-agent contract — after tearing his right pectoral muscle.

"It's not anything near last year's injury," Baxter said Saturday. "I'm positive of that. Everything is good."