Opening statement:
“Injury front wise, (WR) Donovan Peoples-Jones will be back out there today having cleared the (concussion) protocols. We will not have (T) Jack Conklin out there due to illness and (CB) Terrence Mitchell – not injury related.
“On the COVID front, getting (S Andrew) Sendejo and (LB) B.J. Goodson back, as well as (S) Elijah Benton on the practice squad. Coach-wise, (pass game coordinator/wide receivers coach) Chad O’Shea will be back out there today. For the game, similar to last week, (coaching assistant) Ryan Cordell will handle the offensive line, (Chief of Staff) Callie Brownson will handle the tight ends and (assistant defensive backs coach) Brandon Lynch will handle the defensive backs. As you know, (special teams coordinator) Coach (Mike) Priefer will handle the head coaching duties.
AFC North Preview: Week 17 (12-3)
The Steelers stopped their losing skid last week with a comeback win against the Colts to clinch the AFC North. Pittsburgh has decided to rest several key starters this week when they travel to Cleveland to face the Browns, including QB Ben Roethlisberger, C Maurkice Pouncey, OLB T.J. Watt, and DT Cameron Heyward.
QB Mason Rudolph will get the start for the Steelers on Sunday. This is the first time Rudolph will be on the field at the same time as DE Myles Garrett after the two’s physical altercation last year which resulted in Garrett being suspended for the rest of the season. While Pittsburgh has nothing to lose, they could make the path to the playoffs much harder for Cleveland by beating them this week.
LG: Isaac Seumalo
S: Jalen Mills, if he returns?
Slot CB(?): Avonte Maddox
So that s the young core of this team. Compare that group with likely starters from other teams last five drafts, and it s hard to imagine that you could come up with many that are less inspiring.
But beyond the lack of talent generated from those drafts, there were some spectacular misses along the way:
The whiffs on Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas in 2017 necessitated the team to burn two more draft picks and a big chunk of cap space to acquire Darius Slay this past offseason.
They selected J.J. Arcega-Whiteside instead of several other far better options, most notably DK Metcalf, who is already a star player.
Kevin Stefanski discusses Jarvis Landry, Baker Mayfield in conference call: Transcript
Updated Dec 21, 2020;
Here’s a transcript, as provided by the Browns’ media-relations department:
Opening statement:
“On the injury front, (T) Chris Hubbard has that knee injury. He will miss significant time so he will be out this week and then more updates pending. (DT) Sheldon Richardson with the neck injury should be OK. (S) Andrew Sendejo is progressing through the concussion protocols. (G) Wyatt Teller is really still week to week so we will kind of take it as this week progresses, but I would say he is unlikely for this week.
Opening statement:
“On the injury front, (T) Chris Hubbard has that knee injury. He will miss significant time so he will be out this week and then more updates pending. (DT) Sheldon Richardson with the neck injury should be OK. (S) Andrew Sendejo is progressing through the concussion protocols. (G) Wyatt Teller is really still week to week so we will kind of take it as this week progresses, but I would say he is unlikely for this week.
“Talking about last night, like we talked about last night – maybe it was this morning; I can’t remember – a really good team effort across the board. The guys played really hard. I was proud of them for that. Offensively singling guys out, like we talked about (QB) Baker (Mayfield) was really, really sharp. (C) Nick Harris going in there on the second play and performing at a high level, it is possible I was not surprised by that. Defensively, (S) Karl Joseph really played well, making a lot of tackles. He ran our punt team for the firs