The Steelers will announce their preseason schedule today at 4:00 pm according to team spokesman Burt Lauten.
https://twitter.com/SteelersPRBurt/status/718115065631739905
We knew the date was getting close, as the schedule was released on April 9th for the past couple of years. The 4 game schedule typically includes a mix of non-divisional opponents who aren’t terribly far away. Here’s my guess at this year’s opponents-
@ Philadelphia
Tennessee
Detroit
@ Carolina
DeAngelo Williams was on ESPN today. He made the rounds…SportsCenter, First Take, etc…
https://twitter.com/DeAngeloRB/status/717720253506195456
He even did some dancing.
At some point during his interviews, the veteran running back said that the Bengals were going to be his rival this year.
“For me, my rival throughout my year will be the Cincinnati Bengals,” Williams told ESPN. “I don’t think there was any doubt in my mind if AB was not interfered on or hit the way he was hit, however you want to label it – there’s no doubt we go on and give the Broncos hell.”
Essentially, it seems, Williams is saying that Burfict’s hit on AB kept them from the Super Bowl.
Word got out to Burfict at some point today and he took to Twitter to put Williams in his place.
Get the popcorn…
https://twitter.com/DeAngeloRB/status/717850623778140162
https://twitter.com/King55Tez/status/717851651663663105
https://twitter.com/DeAngeloRB/status/717852751967961090
https://twitter.com/King55Tez/status/717852681805701121
https://twitter.com/DeAngeloRB/status/717853179287830528
I’ll give Burfict credit…he spells way better than I would have guessed. After the brief exchange, his mentions skyrocketed, most of which were from Steelers fans.
https://twitter.com/King55Tez/status/717861430238830592
According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Steelers were one of four teams who placed a waiver claim on CB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu.
https://twitter.com/FieldYates/status/717712690819547136
http://gty.im/454821398
The Browns waived Ekpre-Olomu with a non-football injury designation on Saturday. The 5’9″ corner was selected by Cleveland in the 7th round last year, but was one of the top ranked CB prospects in the 2015 draft before suffering a torn ACL and dislocating his knee at the end of his senior season.
The Steelers had the lowest priority of the 4 teams who made waiver claims on the cornerback.
The Steelers had Alabama defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson in for a pre-draft visit today. The 6’3″, 307 lb lineman is widely considered to be one of the top DT prospects in this year’s draft.
https://twitter.com/BobLabriola/status/717384436954873856
Robinson was a five star recruit out of high school in Texas, and originally verbally committed to the Longhorns before switching to Alabama prior to signing day. A two year starter in Alabama’s 3-4 defense, Robinson played down the line, showing that he could anchor at zero-tech or 2-gap as a five technique.
Robinson was mainly asked to be a lane clogger in Alabama, and attributed his lack of penetration to scheme. “I most want to improve on my pass rush and become a better rusher,” Robinson said at the combine. Robinson’s pass rush technique is raw, but he often draws a double team from offensive linemen.
The Steelers spent one on one time with Baylor’s Andrew Billings at his Pro Day last month. Obviously the team will look to add defensive line talent in the coming draft. Whether or not they do so in the first round is anyone’s guess, but either of these prospects would be solid additions.
The Giants have signed former Steelers TE/FB Will Johnson to a 2 year deal, the team announced via Twitter today.
https://twitter.com/Giants/status/717369399200595968
The Steelers signed Johnson as an UDFA out of West Virginia in 2012. During his time in Pittsburgh, the occasional starter played in 63 out of 64 regular season games.
Johnson’s departure doesn’t come as a surprise. Roosevelt Nix proved himself quite capable last year, and it’s hard to justify keeping such a limited role player on the roster.
Will posted a heartfelt farewell to the Steelers and fans via his Instagram account today.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BD0-9jNpwme/
“SteelerNation, first I would like to say thank you to the Rooney family, Coach Tomlin, Kevin Colbert and the entire #Steelers organization for the opportunity to play in the National Football League. They took a chance on me when no one else would, and for that, I am forever grateful. Next, I would like to thank my coaches, teammates and SteelerNation, some of the very best fans in football, for welcoming me. It’s been a fun Journey in which I’ve made great relationships and memories that will last a lifetime.”
Not that it matters. Not that anyone should care what Jones thinks or says…but, the Bengals cornerback stayed true to his word today and issued an apology to Antonio Brown regarding his “injury faking” remarks. Jones swore that Brown was faking and that he’d be playing Sunday.
https://youtu.be/iOn_uk0W7gc
Here’s his apology.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAkr72EEjlI/
The Steelers have announced that Antonio Brown has been ruled out for the divisional playoff game in Denver this Sunday.
https://twitter.com/steelers/status/688003827312779265
This doesn’t come as a big surprise. Brown didn’t participate in practice yesterday, and as I mentioned, he would need to show the team physician and a neurological consultant that he can participate in “football activity” without a setback. These tests are typically a day or two apart.
http://gty.im/459756745
With Brown ruled out, the important question now becomes- will Pacman Jones issue that apology he promised? Just kidding. Of course he won’t. He’ll likely say that the conspiracy is so deep that the Steelers held Brown out to cover up his fake injury.
The important question becomes how will the Steelers find a way to replace AB’s production? Heath Miller, Markus Wheaton, Martavis Bryant, Darrius Heyward-Bey, the TnT backfield and perhaps even Jesse James and Sammie Coates will all need to be sharp when they face the league’s number 1 passing defense.
While the wide receiver hinted at returning to practice last night on Snapchat, it appears to have just been wishful thinking.
Martavis Bryant told media members this afternoon that AB has been going to team meetings. While the door isn’t closed for Brown to play on Sunday, it’s creaking slowly that way. Brown will still has to show the team physician and a neurological consultant that he can participate in “football activity” without a setback.
DeAngelo Williams did not practice again today. He was in a walking boot yesterday and visited a foot specialist earlier in the week. He is reportedly out of the walking boot today for what it’s worth.
Here’s the rest of today’s injury report:
Ben Roethlisberger, Robert Golden, Vince Williams, and Will Johnson were limited. Cam Heyward and Ryan Shazier were full participants.
Ben Roethlisberger has returned to practice today after suffering an AC joint sprain during Saturday night’s victory over the Bengals. “I am not going to do any throwing,” Roethlisberger told reporters today just before practice. “I will do some hand off work and stuff like that.”
http://gty.im/490328692
Roethlisberger told the media yesterday that he hasn’t thrown a football since Saturday. He was limited to watching practicing while doing ‘mental reps’ yesterday, and describes his status for Sunday as ‘hour to hour’.
Landry Jones has had a heavy work load this week in practice. The journeyman quarterback will get his first career playoff start if Big Ben isn’t ready to go against the Broncos.
Doug Legursky has taken videobombing to another level. During Jeremy Fowler’s live ESPN spot yesterday, Legursky slides through the snow, then finishes with some sweet old school WWF inspired poses.
As you can see in the Instagram video below, Legursky takes pride in his impromptu video appearances.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAdeEY3H_pd/