**

KANSAS CITY, Mo.** - Before the dust had officially settled on Chiefs 23, Steelers 13, head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

The response was encouraging even if the result had been frustrating against the 1-5 Chiefs.

"I do as I sit here today, but I don't know what the reaction to (this) week's work is going to mean to him," Tomlin replied, when asked if he felt good about Roethlisberger making his return this coming Sunday against Cincinnati. "I say that with the understanding that how his knee reacts to the work we give him (in practice) could play into it, as well."

Roethlisberger said he had no feel for how he might respond in practice this week based on how his knee felt through three practices last week.

"No clue," he said. "We'll take it day by day like we've always been doing and see what happens. We'll go into practice on Wednesday with the expectation of practicing and just doing it all and see where we go."

The Steelers listed Roethlisberger as having had limited participation in practice last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and listed him as questionable for the Chiefs game prior to deactivating him on Sunday morning.

Roethlisberger said he had been "pretty close" to doing it all in practice last week.

"It's looking that way," guard Ramon Foster said of Roethlisberger returning against the Bengals. "We'll check the reps on Wednesday."

**

LANDRY'S DAY:** Quarterback Landry Jones wasn't able to match the dazzling numbers he had posted in his NFL debut on Oct. 18 against Arizona.

Jones finished 16-for-29 passing, for 209 yards, with one touchdown, two interceptions, a lost fumble on a sack and a passer rating of 60.8.

But he impressed his teammates with the way he handled the majority of the practice reps in preparation for the Chiefs game (Jones had been thrown in against Arizona as an injury replacement for Mike Vick) and with the way he played in what became his first NFL start.

A sampling of reaction:

Foster: Jones was "a guy that was poised, a guy that knew what he was doing. I think he put out some good tape. He was already talking about what he could have done, what he should have done, so that's very encouraging."

Roethlisberger: "I thought he played a good game. Obviously, there are some plays he'd like to have back but they're not his fault. I thought he called a good game. He made some checks, some audibles. Really proud of the way he stepped up in a hostile environment and played well."

Wide receiver Antonio Brown: "I thought he did really well."

**

ACCOUNTABILITY:** There was no shortage of players accepting blame for what didn't go the Steelers' way in the visitor's locker room at Arrowhead Stadium.

Brown regretted a tipped pass he juggled and then batted up in the air that was ultimately intercepted in the third quarter.

"The trajectory of the ball changed but I gotta make a play in that situation," he said.

Linebacker Lawrence Timmons took the blame for a critical 26-yard completion to tight end Travis Kelce on third-and-4 midway through the fourth quarter.

"I gotta make that play," Timmons said. "I knew it was coming. My coach called it before the play happened, (Kelce's) either going to run the 'out' (route) or the 'seam' and he ran the 'seam.' I'm the type of player that can make that play. I gotta be there."

Left tackle Alejandro Villanueva took responsibility for both of the Chiefs' sacks, one on third-and-7 from the Kansas City 10-yard line with 10:59 left in the fourth quarter (a field goal that cut the Kansas City lead to 16-13 resulted) and one on first-and-10 from the Kansas City 39 with 2:05 left in regulation (the Chiefs recovered Jones' fumble and ran out the clock).

"It doesn't matter whether you play an entire game perfect and then you give up two sacks in the fourth quarter and the while team's relying on you," Villanueva said after his first NFL start. "I let my team down. I didn't play good situational football."

NOT GOOD ENOUGH: Linebacker Jarvis Jones on the Steelers' 2-2 record without Roethlisberger: "We're .500. That's not where we want to be."