Aug 7, 2003 4 min read

LATROBE, Pa. (AP) – He’s still on the bench, yet the playing field looks a lot closer to Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch than it did a year ago. Especially this week, when he returns to what he once thought would be his home turf throughout NFL career.

Cast off by the Detroit Lions after starting for three seasons-plus, he hooked on with his hometown Steelers last year as their No. 3 quarterback. As with most QBs buried so deep on the bench, he wasn’t expected to play and didn’t, never getting into a game once the season started.

The layoff – he hasn’t appeared in a regular season NFL game since Dec. 2, 2001 – wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for the former Eastern Michigan star. He had adequate time to rehabilitate the right knee injury that affected him for two seasons and, while doing so, was on the payroll of the team he grew up watching.

But Batch prefers to play, and he knew that wasn’t going to happen while backing up both Tommy Maddox and Kordell Stewart. Now that Stewart has moved on to the Bears, Batch knows the first quarterback off the bench if anything happens to Maddox will be him.

“Now I’m one play away from going into the game. Last year I was two plays away … and, realistically, it doesn’t happen that No. 1 and 2 go down,” Batch said Wednesday.

Batch wasn’t a disaster in Detroit, throwing nine more touchdown passes (49) than interceptions (40) in 48 games. The Lions were so pleased after his first two seasons that they gave him a new contract and a $10 million signing bonus. For comparison purposes, the Steelers have never given so large a bonus to any player in team history.

Batch signed the deal shortly before hurting the knee during a voluntary workout in June 2000, and he never felt right even while starting 15 games that season. After former NFL player Matt Millen took over the Lions’ front office before the 2001 season, Batch was benched a game into the season and wound up starting only nine of 16 games.

“When Millen came in, he was given full control of it,” Batch said. “I knew I wasn’t right, but he had to base his opinions on what he thought the future was going to hold. Obviously he felt like I wasn’t part of the plan, so that’s why I’m not there.”

Don’t think Batch hasn’t noticed the Lions were 17-15 in his two full seasons as their starting QB but are 5-27 since Millen took over.

“Maybe I wasn’t all that bad,” Batch said. “But I always look at the positives, and getting released allowed me to get the knee right, allowed me to (spend) five months solely on rehabilitation. Looking at it now, the situation I’m in is a lot better than there.”

Especially now that it might involve playing. The Steelers realize that few quarterbacks stay healthy for an entire season, which is why they pushed to bring back the experienced Batch as Maddox’s backup.

They’re even paying him more than Maddox – Batch will make $1 million, with Maddox earning $700,000 plus incentives. Maddox signed a contract extension only last year, and the Steelers want to see him duplicate his successful 2002 season before giving him a new deal.

Maddox figures to play only a couple of series before Batch takes over during Saturday’s exhibition game in Detroit. Batch may play a couple of quarters, possibly the most playing time he’ll get before the season starts.

While his old team will be on the field, not many of his old teammates will be. Millen has overhauled the Lions, and Batch said many of the players he once stayed in touch with are gone. Not that it will matter much.

“I haven’t played since last August, so I’m looking forward to getting back out there,” Batch said. “Obviously, playing Detroit, it’s a double positive for me.

“I just want to get on the field and play some ball.”

AP-ES-08-06-03 1706EDT