Steelers have played against "sick" players at Heinz in the playoffs before - this from the AFC championship game Ben's rookie year
He was flat on his back, shaken up and shivering on a frigid winter's evening, and he began to fear he was losing the battle. Tom Brady, the New England Patriots' clutch quarterback, was laid out in room 304 of the Four Points Sheraton in Pittsburgh last Saturday night, his throat sore and his temperature at 103.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...4273/index.htm
Patriots 41 - Steelers 27 in a game that was over at halftime
Assuming he is sick, Rice will play through the miracles of modern medicine