The look on his face as he walked off the field said it all. You could see the pain Byron Leftwich was in. Even in a closed press box you could almost hear him screaming. You could feel the anguish he was going through. You could tell it wasn't good.
But it's a look Leftwich will never see. He won't watch the replay, doesn't want to see what happened against the Atlanta Falcons at Heinz Field that resulted in him walking off the field with a broken left arm.
"I won't watch it, definitely not," said Leftwich. "The people I talked to told me don't watch it, so I won't."
It's not the first injury that Leftwich has suffered in his career, but this time it was different.
"It was very painful," said Leftwich. "I have been a guy considered a tough football player…I have broken a leg, fingers and torn ligaments on that football field. But I have never experienced anything like that in my life."
In those first moments, when he was coming off the field, the pain was so severe Leftwich had no idea what even happened.
"I was in survival mode. I was in a lot of pain, something I never felt before," said Leftwich. "Your brain doesn't work at that point. You are just trying to survive. It was almost like I was just trying to stay alive. It was so painful. I can't even express the pain I was going through.
"It was something different for me. I thought I could deal with a lot of different things. My experience shows I have handled a lot of different things on the field. But to be honest with you, I have never felt anything like that before."
Leftwich said the pain was so severe, he doesn't remember what teammates said to him, or what was even happening around him.
"I don't remember a lot of that," said Leftwich. "I was in so much pain. I think I was in shock. I don't even remember going into the x-ray room. That is when I started coming around. That is when I talked to the doctors.
"I don't remember what anyone was saying to me on the field, I don't remember how I got to the x-ray room. I just remember being there in the x-ray room and that is when I started coming together."
Leftwich underwent surgery on the arm and was placed on injured reserve, which will force him to miss the entire 2011 season, something that hasn't completely sunk in yet.
"I am quite sure it will soon," said Leftwich as his teammates were practicing in preparation for the Ravens. "Once my arm gets better and I see these guys out here playing, and you want to contribute any way you can to the football team, that is when it will get tough.
"I haven't been in as much pain as when it happened, but I have been in pain. I haven't had the time to sit there and feel sorry for myself or anything. It's been all about trying to get rid of this pain and doing what I have to do. I haven't done anything except try to get rid of this pain."
