First Call: Myles Garrett on Browns injury report; Mike Tomlin atop NFL Coach of the Year odds

Wednesday’s First Call has injury news surrounding Myles Garrett in advance of Thursday’s Steelers-Browns game. We look at the officiating crew for that contest. Mike Tomlin is now atop the NFL’s Coach of the Year gambling odds.

There’s an update on Alex Ovechkin’s injury. And the son of a former Steeler has changed his mind about his college football destination.

Something to watch

Myles Garrett’s quotes about T.J. Watt raised a lot of eyebrows on Tuesday. But his injury status may have gotten lost in the mix.

The Cleveland Browns defensive end was placed on the injury report Tuesday prior to Thursday night’s game against the Steelers. He did not participate in Tuesday’s practice session thanks to a hip injury.

That said, while speaking with the media on Tuesday, there was no mention of Garrett missing the game. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year has been listed with various injuries this year, including foot, Achilles and thigh ailments. He wasn’t listed on the estimated injury report on Monday — which was a non-practice day for both clubs.

Garrett has seven sacks with 10 tackles for loss and 15 QB hits over 10 games this year.

Also on the Browns injury report, left tackle Jedrick Wills (knee) was limited Tuesday. He had been projected as a non-participant on Monday’s estimate. He has played in only five games this season and has not suited up at all since Nov. 3.

Odds on

According to FanDuel, Mike Tomlin is the NFL Coach of the Year betting favorite at +300. At 8-2, the Steelers are well ahead of preseason projections. Most gambling outlets had the Steelers’ preseason win total at over/under 8.5.

One more win would clinch yet another non-losing season for Tomlin. He has never finished below .500. So far this year, Tomlin’s team has had to navigate through numerous injuries and a difficult schedule, and he made a tough call to bench Justin Fields for Russell Wilson while Fields was 4-2 as the starting quarterback.

Dan Campbell of the 9-1 Lions is second at +400. Jim Harbaugh is at +500 in third place. He is in his first year with the 7-3 Los Angeles Chargers.

Home cookin’?

The referee for Thursday night’s Steelers-Browns game in Cleveland will be Brad Allen. That’s according to FootballZebras.com.

As pointed out at SteelersDepot, the home team has won seven of 10 games that Allen has officiated. That’s above the league average of 53% and tied for third-highest in the league. The visiting team has been penalized more often in seven of his crew’s 10 games this season.

However, according to NFLPenalties.com, Allen’s crew usually doesn’t call a ton of penalties. With 110 whistles over 10 games, Allen and company have dropped the third-fewest flags in the NFL (via NFLPenalties.com).

Cleveland has picked up 74 penalties in 10 games. That’s seventh out of 32 teams. The Steelers are 16th at 64.

Allen has yet to officiate a Steelers game this year. He did officiate the club’s 2023 finale in Baltimore last year, which the Steelers won 17-10. Only seven penalties were handed out, four for Pittsburgh and three for Baltimore.

‘Bama bound

The son of a former Steeler has flipped his college football commitment — again.

Ivan Taylor, son of former Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor, has decided to attend Alabama. He previously stated that he was going to play at Michigan. Originally, Taylor planned on going to South Bend to play with Plaxico Burress’ son (Elijah) and Jerome Bettis’ son (Jerome Jr.).

Legacy ???????? pic.twitter.com/xV6mZGWFFS

— Elijah Burress (@elijahburress) June 17, 2024

According to 247 Sports, Taylor is the No. 7 ranked safety in the country for the class of 2025. He is rated as the No. 59 player overall.

Taylor (West Orange, Fla.) is 6-foot tall and 180 pounds. Via The Athletic, through 11 games this season, Taylor has 50 tackles, six tackles for loss, six pass deflections and a career-high four interceptions.

Ovi out

In the midst of a wildly impressive start to his 2024-25 season, Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has suffered a knee injury that is being labeled as week-to-week by the organization. According to the team’s social media account, “Ovechkin will have a further evaluation with team physicians in D.C. on Wednesday.”

The injury occurred in the third period Monday night. After scoring twice earlier in the game, Ovechkin collided knees with Utah’s Jack McBain.

Alex Ovechkin is slow to get up after colliding knee-to-knee with Jack McBain. pic.twitter.com/gQNOiDMcPR

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 19, 2024

Prior to the injury, Ovechkin had posted 12 goals in his last 11 games. He has 15 overall to lead the NHL. The 39-year-old future Hall of Famer has 868 goals. Wayne Gretzky holds the NHL record at 894.

The Penguins and Capitals are not scheduled to play each other again until Jan. 18.