Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, right, plays linebacker as running back Willie Parker blocks during walk-through drills at the team training facility in Latrobe on Thursday. Coach Bill Cowher said Roethlisberger will start their pre-season game this Saturday in Phoenix.

PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger needs only to take his first hit in an exhibition game to prove to coach Bill Cowher that he has recovered from his motorcycle accident.

Roethlisberger will start the Pittsburgh Steelers' preseason game at Arizona on Saturday, two months to the day that he broke his jaw and nose and sustained other facial injuries in a serious accident in Pittsburgh.

Roethlisberger has been lobbying Cowher since camp opened July 28 to play, but Cowher hadn't confirmed until Thursday that the quarterback would start.

"I like the frame of mind he's in right now," Cowher said. "I'm not worried about Ben. It's more, I think, just getting our football team and making sure we're all on the same page and that we get back to where we need to be."

Roethlisberger will be replaced by backup Charlie Batch, likely before the end of the first quarter unless either team goes on a long scoring drive. Most of the playing time is expected to go to the quarterbacks competing for the No. 3 job, free agent Shane Boyd and fifth-round draft pick Omar Jacobs.

Roethlisberger, who led the Steelers to a Super Bowl championship in his second year as a starter last season, hasn't missed any training camp time due to the accident and hasn't seemed affected by it.

His rapid recovery has surprised and impressed his teammates, with wide receiver Hines Ward calling it "a miracle."

Roethlisberger lost a considerable amount of blood when he flew off his bike and struck the windshield of a car head-on, and needed seven hours of surgery to repair his facial damage.

Now, Cowher said, Roethlisberger "seems the same old guy to me."

In Cowher's mind, the only hurdle left for Roethlisberger is to show he can stand up to a hit. Roethlisberger also sustained a concussion, lost some teeth and broke some orbital bones in the accident, in which he wasn't wearing a helmet.

"Probably until he takes that first hit, that will be the last bit of apprehension you have or he may have," Cowher said. "I still think it's there. He says it's not, but I think it is. I think it would be for anybody, but I'm not concerned."

Roethlisberger considered using a newer model football helmet designed to afford extra protection against a concussion, but decided to stay with the helmet he wore previously. Roethlisberger said he had trouble seeing the entire field with the newer helmet.

Roethlisberger's weight is down to about 235 pounds, about 15 fewer than last season, but the quarterback said he planned to lose weight before camp even if there hadn't been an accident.

"He lost some weight in a short period of time, not the way he wanted to do it," Cowher said. "With the accident, he has not been able to train as he has in the past in getting ready for camp. But he's looked fine. He looked good throwing the ball out there. He started to look a little tired, I thought, earlier in the week, but I think he's fine."

Cowher wants Roethlisberger to play in the preseason games — and probably in all four — to get accustomed again to the faster flow of the game.

"You cannot simulate the speed of the game, and I don't care how many years you've been in the league, you cannot do that out on the practice field," Cowher said. "The timing involved, the communication that's involved, the chance for the first time to go live — you don't simulate that on a practice field."

Ward, out since Friday with a sore hamstring, won't play and will be replaced by second-year receiver Nate Washington.