The Pittsburgh Steelers may miss a key member of the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Lots of nuggets are coming out of the AFC North. The Penguins are getting set to face the Flyers. We check in on RMU hockey.

And RIP Pittsburgh Maulers … again.

Hollywood’s heel

As the Steelers prepare to face the Cardinals on Sunday, one of Arizona’s best pass catchers is still a question mark to play. Marquise “Hollywood” Brown missed a second straight day of practice with an injured heel.

Brown was able to play through that pain Sunday against the Rams. He was effective, catching six passes for 88 yards. But he also hasn’t practiced since last Wednesday. His practice status will be worth noting Friday as well.

Another wide receiver, Michael Wilson, also missed a second straight day with a shoulder ailment. A third receiver, Zach Pascal, was absent because of personal reasons.

Meanwhile, tight end Trey McBride (groin) and safety Jalen Thompson (rib) were upgraded to limited participants Wednesday.

As for the Steelers, Cameron Heyward sat out a second straight day, nursing his ongoing groin injury. James Pierre was added to the injury report. He missed Thursday’s activities with a shoulder problem. Receiver Diontae Johnson was held out too. He popped up with an “illness” on the report.

Receiver Calvin Austin was upgraded to limited despite his ankle issue, and Alan Robinson practiced in full after resting a foot on Wednesday.

More sports

• Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry scores goal in comeback win against Lightning • After offense reaches 400 yards, Eddie Faulkner anxious to see what Steelers can do for encore • Former Steelers, Pitt star James Conner to return to 'special place' Sunday with Cardinals

Answer out West?

Now a former Cardinal, tight end Zach Ertz may be heading to the AFC North.

The Cardinals officially released the former Pro Bowler on Thursday. Baltimore needs help at the position, given Mark Andrews’ injury. According to Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz, the Ravens are on the radar as a team to watch if Ertz winds up with a contender.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter suggested Kansas City, Buffalo and Philadelphia as potential destinations as well. Ertz played in Philly for eight years before joining the Cardinals in 2021.

Speaking of the AFC North, word out of Cleveland is that former Raven Joe Flacco may get the start for the Browns on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. Rookie quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson remained in concussion protocol Thursday. Flacco hasn’t thrown a pass in a game since Week 18 last year with the New York Jets.

And Bengals quarterback Jake Browning is now appearing on the injury report with a right wrist ailment. But some are wondering if that is real or if the Bengals are just messing with the NFL after word came out that the league is investigating the franchise for allegedly hiding a wrist injury to starting QB Joe Burrow in advance of their game against the Ravens last Thursday.

Burrow is now out for the year after having wrist surgery.

So much for that

The first edition of the USFL’s Pittsburgh Maulers lasted just one season.

The second edition of the team lasted two seasons.

Yup. After a 1-9 inaugural campaign in 2022 and a 4-6 finish in ‘23, the Maulers were put on ice again. Sports Business Journal reported Thursday that the USFL-XFL merger has cleared federal antitrust review. So, the new entity is planning a 2024 season. It’s slated to kick off on March 30.

Now, according to Mike Mitchell, who covered both leagues, the Maulers have been contracted out of the new league that features eight teams.

The growing sense from sources within the USFL and XFL is that the new league will be branded as the UFL with only eight teams existing in 2024. With the remaining markets being put on 'pause mode'.

One close source has indicated that the returning markets for the new merged… https://t.co/tuVn7q2HuZ

— Mike Mitchell (@ByMikeMitchell) November 30, 2023

So the new Maulers are done without ever having actually played a game in Pittsburgh. They played home games in Canton last year and played Year 1 in a Birmingham, Ala., hub.

At least they went out with a bang. The Maulers defeated the Michigan Panthers in the USFL North Division Championship Game, advancing to their first USFL Championship, where they were defeated by the Birmingham Stallions 28-12.

Coach Prime praise

Sports Illustrated named its Sportsperson of the Year. It’s Colorado football coach Deion Sanders.

Either voting for this award stopped in mid-September or all of SI’s bots wrote this story. I mean, Colorado finished in last place in the Pac-12.

Who finished second? Derek Shelton? The Pirates had one good month too, you know.

This was some of the rationale advanced by Pat Forde.

“There are numbers that define the Prime Effect upon the University of Colorado in Boulder, a place that hasn’t always had a chummy relationship with football. First-year applications are up 26.4% year over year; Black or African American applications are up 80.6%; nonresident applications are up 29.8%; and international applications are up 38.4% from 97 countries, including 16 that didn’t have any applications last year. While those numbers cannot be definitively linked to Sanders, others can be: September sales at the school’s online team store were up 2,544% over the same month in 2022. Every home game in 50,183-seat Folsom Field was sold out for the first time in school history.”

OK. They also went 4-8 and closed on a six-game losing streak. Plus, Sanders ran off a bunch of players who were on the roster when he got there, and his recruiting momentum appears to have stalled.

All SI is doing by handing Sanders this award is underscoring the belief that in the year 2023 results in sports (or life) don’t matter. And all that does matter is hype and social media traction.

Actually, now that I type that out, maybe Sports Illustrated is onto something.

Top that?

Led by goal scorer Tritan Jar– … uh, I mean … goalie Tristan Jarry, the Penguins came back from 2-0 down to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 Thursday night.

Now, the Penguins get to play their hated rivals from Philadelphia in back-to-back games. The Pens host the Flyers on Saturday night. Then they are in Philly on Monday night. Both games are 7 p.m. starts.

The Metropolitan division foes have yet to face each other this season. Philly has 24 points in 23 games, good for fifth in the Metro. The Penguins are one point behind them, along with New Jersey.

Travis Konecny has 18 points and 12 goals to lead the Flyers. In net, Carter Hart is 6-6 with a 2.57 goals against average and a save percentage of .911.

The Pens won all three games against the Flyers last season by a combined score of 13-4.

The college kids

Meanwhile, on the college level, the Robert Morris men’s hockey team has a tough task in Rochester.

The Colonials travel to upstate New York to face RIT. The Tigers have 17 points, second best in Atlantic Hockey behind Sacred Heart (22). RMU, in its first year back after a two-year absence, is in last place with six points.

The women’s team is in State College to visit Penn State for an important CHA series. The Nittany Lions are atop the conference with 10 points at 5-1 (8-7-1 overall). RMU is in second place with eight points at 4-2-0 (7-9-0 overall).

Penn State comes to Neville Island on Feb. 9 and 10.

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