Dennis

Dixon

“I anticipate Dennis will have a lot of interest around the league,” Colbert added. “I don’t think the league has seen the best of Dennis Dixon, only because he’s behind a great quarterback and he’s been held back by some injuries.” Colbert hopes to re-sign Byron Leftwich and Charlie Batch instead of Dixon, who wants a No. 2 job.

Outside of a late-March visit to Denver, Dixon has received surprisingly little interest as a possible No. 2 quarterback. The Rams do have a vacancy behind Sam Bradford.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Rams “remain interested” in Dixon after he threw passes to Jerricho Cotchery in a workout last week. He’d have to beat out Tom Brandstater for St. Louis’ backup job, and Tyrod Taylor in Baltimore.

Denver signed Caleb Hanie to a two-year contract on Saturday, but Dixon would give him much-needed competition for the No. 2 job behind Peyton Manning. Hanie is more of a pocket quarterback like Manning, while Dixon has the ability to make plays with his legs. Even if Dixon is signed, Denver could still look to draft a young arm in April’s draft.

Ben Roethlisberger (ankle) missed practice again on Thursday. The Steelers are currently favored by 16 over the Rams, but bookies aren’t taking action until the QB decision is made. Local as well as national media expect Big Ben to be held out this week, with Charlie Batch making the start. Dennis Dixon would then be active as the No. 2 QB in case Batch fails to move the offense.

As hard as it may be to believe, Arians insists the Steelers won’t change the offense if Batch starts. Arians acknowledges that a decision on Big Ben could come down to pregame warmups on Monday night. Roethlisberger revealed Thursday that the ankle is actually more painful right now than it was a week ago. For what it’s worth, SI.com’s Peter King is still predicting that Roethlisberger will not play this week.

Dixon played in an option-based offense at Oregon, somewhat like the Broncos’, and is highly athletic with scrambling ability. Said coach Mike Tomlin, “Our defense has also experienced the benefit of looking at some of those things and preparing for it.” Dixon doesn’t have Tebow’s running power, but the Steelers aren’t tackling in practice this week. A good case could probably be made that Dixon is a better thrower than Tebow.

Dixon will be a relatively intriguing backup option on the open market because he’s shown moxie in previous spot starts and has a versatile set of skills. The 27-year-old has four career appearances (three starts), completing 35-of-59 passes (59.3%) for 402 yards (6.8 YPA), one touchdown, and two interceptions. Dixon has rushed 10 times for 56 yards (5.6 YPC) and another score.

Dennis Dixon will pick up extra snaps this week, too, in case of emergency. Coach Mike Tomlin considers Roethlisberger and C Maurkice Pouncey (ankle) “questionable” at this point. We’d be surprised if Batch ends up starting, but Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown take big hits if he does.

Dixon hasn’t been on an NFL roster since the end of last season, when he was imitating Tim Tebow on the Steelers’ scout team. Now 26 years old, Dixon will function as the Ravens’ third-stringer behind Joe Flacco and Tyrod Taylor.