First Call: Joe Haden tweets about penalty; ex-Steeler critical of JuJu Smith-Schuster; Denver's quarterback injured

Monday’s “First Call” has critical comments from an ex-Steeler about JuJu Smith-Schuster. Antonio Brown had interesting things to say about his time in New England.

And Pittsburgh.

Also, Joe Haden spouts off about his offsides penalty, and next week’s Steelers opponent has its starting QB in concussion protocol.

His side of the story

Steelers cornerback Joe Haden took to social media Sunday night to state his side of the story regarding that offsides call in Green Bay Sunday.

I wasn’t offsides.

— Joe Haden (@joehaden23) October 4, 2021

Haden’s penalty just before halftime cost Minkah Fitzpatrick a blocked field goal that turned into a scoop-and-score touchdown that would’ve given the Steelers a 17-14 lead at halftime. Instead, they trailed after two quarters 17-10.

The refs called Joe Haden offsides ????pic.twitter.com/93gwfpNibb

— PFF PIT Steelers (@PFF_Steelers) October 3, 2021

“I didn’t have the line of scrimmage so,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said of his view of the play. “I’d just be speculating and giving you some hearsay.”

OK, coach, I’ll say it even if you don’t. Haden is right. The officials were wrong.

Friendly fire

When Ben Roethlisberger misfired on a deep shot in the second quarter to JuJu Smith-Schuster, it appeared to be at least the second deep ball he missed with his perceived favorite target.

Or not, according to former Steelers linebacker Vince Williams. He tweeted, “No way 1 over throw. If the first one was caught the second one wouldn’t matter. True #1 Wideouts make that catch.”

Then Williams made some comparisons to other top notch wide receivers.

Ok so y’all on my head. So ask yourself this. “Would AB have caught it?”

— Vince Williams (@VinnyVidiVici98) October 3, 2021

Ok y’all don’t like the AB comparison. Would Hopkins would have caught it?

— Vince Williams (@VinnyVidiVici98) October 3, 2021

That’s a direct shot at JuJu. Maybe there’s some acrimony there from Williams since the Steelers brought back Smith-Schuster with limited salary cap room two days after Williams was released last March.

Although Williams was re-signed. Then he retired.

So maybe it’s not jealousy or angst at all, and he just thinks that Smith-Schuster isn’t worthy of being a No. 1 receiver. And certainly not worthy of being paid accordingly.

Dirty pool from the dirty birds?

The Baltimore Ravens tied the Steelers NFL record of 43 straight games with at least 100 yards rushing as a team.

They did so with a five-yard run from Lamar Jackson on the last play of the game to give them 102 yards rushing during a 23-7 win over the Denver Broncos Sunday. So clearly they were conscious of the record and willing to risk their star quarterback to get it on a meaningless final carry.

Pretty cheesy if you ask me.

Baltimore was averaging 185.3 yards on the ground per game coming into the game. And the Broncos only yielded 178 total rushing yards as a team in their first three games.

So given the Steelers’ inability to run the ball, imagine what that is going to look like next week when they try to do so against Denver at Heinz Field.

Bridgewater banged up

On the other side of the ball, Denver quarterback Teddy Bridgewater got a concussion during the game. His status is in doubt for Sunday at Heinz Field.

In relief, Drew Lock was just 12 of 21 for 113 yards, three sacks, no touchdowns and an interception.

Former Steeler Diontae Spencer got knocked out of that game, too. Both plays were the result of unflagged high hits.

Lock started in Pittsburgh last year during Week 2. Linebacker Bud Dupree injured his shoulder on a strip sack fumble that caused Lock to miss time with the Broncos. The Steelers went on to win against the Broncos with Jeff Driskel playing the rest of the game.

Say again?

After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the New England Patriots 19-17 in Gillette Stadium Sunday night, Bucs receiver Antonio Brown had some interesting comments.

Remember, A.B. played one whole game as a Patriot before being cut by the team in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against him.

But apparently that time in Foxborough meant a lot to Mr. Big Chest.

“It was the best experience of my life being here,” Brown said of his one full game week in New England after he was released by the Oakland Raiders. “Bill Belichick is one of the best coaches when it comes to preparing the players. On the field. Off the field. Discipline.”

Antonio Brown with a little revisionists history about his short time as a member of the New England Patriots. pic.twitter.com/dkQfQfiGaK

— Eric Rueb (@EricRueb) October 4, 2021

Right. Because when I think “Antonio Brown,” I think, “There is a guy who appreciates being disciplined.”

Chest had a thing or two to say about going to New England after all the struggles the Steelers had there during his time in Black and Gold.

“Playing with the Steelers and being able to come here, you know, we didn’t have a lot of success over there. But coming here, I realized what it meant to be a Patriot,” Brown said. “Hard work on Wednesdays. One-on-one versus the starters on Wednesday. One-on-one versus the starters on Thursday. Running the hill. Preparation for meetings. So detail-oriented.”

What? Are you telling me the Steelers back in your day weren’t detail-oriented? And they aren’t now? You sure, Antonio?

And let’s not kid ourselves. If the Patriots weren’t forced to cut Brown, he would’ve lasted a few weeks under Bill Belichick’s thumb and lashed out.

We all know it.