Steelers/NFL category, Page 209

Kenny Pickett enthusiastically intends on being at Acrisure Stadium for Thursday’s Backyard Brawl. “I can’t wait,” Pickett said of the Pitt/West Virginia game. “It’s gonna be an awesome game. I really wish I had a chance to play in it in college.” Pickett happily will settle for taking the field...

There was never a legit competition for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback job. If you consider how the quarterbacks got deployed at training camp and in the exhibition games, that’s obvious. It was all lip service and media stooging. But if there had been a competition, Mitch Trubisky would have...

Mike Tomlin isn’t ready to name his starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers even though Mitch Trubisky has continued to do everything asked of him in the preseason. Trubisky took his biggest step toward winning the quarterback competition Sunday, directing a touchdown drive while running the 2-minute offense at the...

It’s the time of year when everybody unwittingly ruins their enjoyment of the NFL by drafting a team in that most counterproductive of activities, fantasy football. You love it. You shouldn’t. It’s popular. So is drug abuse. Say your fantasy team includes Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow. Who do you root...

It was a tradition that went back two decades. Every year, just before Labor Day, the Pittsburgh Steelers played the Carolina Panthers in the teams’ annual preseason finale. It wasn’t quite Michigan-Ohio State or Alabama-Auburn, but the “rivalry” was a staple of the end of the preseason, a mishmash of...

Alex Highsmith was short on specifics as he took off his cleats after Pittsburgh Steelers practice Friday. But the first three words he used when asked about his recovery from a rib injury said volumes. “I am good,” Highsmith said. “Yes, sir.” Highsmith has missed practices and preseason games over...

For most of Mike Tomlin’s tenure as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, seeing the Carolina Panthers on the field during the final week before Labor Day meant only one thing: the preseason finale. And Tomlin has plenty of memories of fringe players seemingly coming out of nowhere in that game...

Mike Tomlin is keeping the status quo with the rotation of his quarterbacks in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preseason finale. Mitch Trubisky will start the game Sunday against the Detroit Lions at Acrisure Stadium. Rookie first-round pick Kenny Pickett will be the first quarterback of the bench. Veteran Mason Rudolph, the...

These refreshing sports notes are locked in a battle to see who starts! (Not really. But that’s a deception you like to buy into.) • Kenny Pickett has looked great in preseason games. But he has faced defenses that were 100% vanilla. Plenty of media experts want Pickett to start...

Former Pittsburgh Steeler Ike Taylor said he is getting a job with the franchise. A former Pirate almost made history at the plate, while a few others have been busy on the mound. And Duquesne’s athletic department celebrated a landmark win in soccer as it hopes for something similar in...

As the NFL preseason wraps up over the next 10 days or so, this is going to be a huge week for fantasy football drafts across Pittsburgh and the rest of the country. So for “Friday Football Footnotes” this week, we spoke with Jeff Erickson of Rotowire. He’s our long-time...

A brawl between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams erupted during a joint practice session Thursday. Rams star Aaron Donald was caught on film swinging a helmet at Bengals players before getting thrown to the ground. #Rams Aaron Donald used a #Bengals helmet to hit Cincy players after a...

Elijah Riley laughed it off. Within about 18 hours of arriving in Pittsburgh, he was part of a mini scrum during his first practice with the Pittsburgh Steelers. “Just having fun,” Riley said Thursday from UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “Playing ball, talking (trash). It’s fun to be out there.” Everything...

Najee Harris is well-cemented as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting running back. But the competition for the Nos. 2-3 on the depth chart — and accompanying gameday roster spot that comes with it — has been brewing all throughout training camp. The candidates have one last chance to make their case...

When the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Detroit Lions on Sunday, they will conclude not just their preseason but the exhibition schedule for the entire NFL. The 4:30 p.m. nationally televised kickoff makes the Steelers-Lions matchup the final one of the weekend and one of only two that will be held...

It’s late August in Pittsburgh. For local sports fans, that marks the annual nexus of Steelers preseason obsession, meeting yearly late-season Pirates fan dejection. Preemptive quarterback concerns. Acute offensive line panic. Defensive back denial. All stirred with long-simmering Pirates angst and frustration. We mix it, shake it, chill it and...

In Thursday’s “First Call,” ESPN.com is setting the bar low for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022. Tough times for the Pirates are about to continue. A trio of ex-Buccos pitchers are on the mound Thursday night. And we remember Len Dawson as a Steeler as the NFL mourns his passing....

It appears that ex-Steeler Vince Williams is a big fan of a new Steeler at his former position. It’s rookie inside linebacker Mark Robinson. “Mark Robinson is better than I was as a rookie,” Williams said Tuesday on social media. “I hope he keeps #93.” Mark Robinson is better than...

The Pittsburgh Steelers claimed safety Elijah Riley off waivers Wednesday, a day after he was cut by the New York Jets. Riley (6-foot, 205 pounds) started seven of the Jets’ final eight games last season soon after being signed off the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad. Riley made brief appearances (most...

Has the training-camp rotation at left guard come to an end for the Pittsburgh Steelers? Has a starter been chosen? That’s not known definitively. But Kevin Dotson confirmed that for the second consecutive practice, he ran with the first-team offense Wednesday. That’s notable because over the first four weeks of...

One day after waiving a rookie quarterback, the Pittsburgh Steelers had an 18-year veteran attend practice Wednesday. Ben Roethlisberger was at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex as a visitor, however, and not someone looking to make a Tom Brady-like comeback after retiring in the offseason. Instead of sporting a No. 7...

Kenny Pickett undoubtedly would prefer to be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ starting quarterback when the regular season begins. But he’s not going to hyperfixate on that goal, nor is he going to concern himself if coach Mike Tomlin tells him he’s decided otherwise. “I think the best advice I ever got...

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a host of good players, not least their three defensive standouts: Minkah Fitzpatrick, Cam Heyward and T.J. Watt. They also have a lot of promising young talent on offense, including Najee Harris, George Pickens and Kenny Pickett. But the Steelers have a lousy team. It’s poorly...

On the first day of Pittsburgh Steelers training camp, head coach Mike Tomlin gave an in-depth breakdown of how the slot position has changed for wide receivers over the years. “Years ago, there was a designated slot guy,” Tomlin said at Saint Vincent College. “And that was the only guy...

In Wednesday’s “First Call,” a former Pittsburgh Steeler is struggling to keep a new job. The Baltimore Ravens are getting mixed results on the injury front. Tyler Glasnow is trying to return. And Duquesne’s football team has new captains. That was quick Joe Schobert didn’t last very long in Denver....