First Call: Pat Freiermuth posts health update; Rocky Bleier rips Steelers again; ex-Steeler now a Jaguars coaching candidate
An important piece of the Steelers offense may be back for “Monday Night Football.” Rocky Bleier is torching his former team again. Reinforcements are coming for the Kansas City Chiefs in advance of their big AFC showdown against the Cincinnati Bengals. And a former Steeler is in the hunt for an NFL coaching job.
All that in Wednesday’s “First Call.”
Not done yet
Well, Rocky Balboa had plenty of sequels. Why not Rocky Bleier?
The former Steelers running back recently roasted the franchise on Instagram after its rotten 41-10 loss in Cincinnati. Now he’s dogging them again for a putrid 36-10 defeat in Kansas City.
“Embarrassing,” Bleier said. “So why do we continue fooling ourselves just thinking this team is something special? Why did we think this team could get into the playoffs? We’ve become enamored with personalities. We have Najee Harris, Chase Claypool, T.J. Watt, Pat Freiermuth. What we don’t have is an offensive line, a defensive secondary, or in my estimation, a quarterback. Just…Ben (Roethlisberger) can’t run, or take a hit, or dance around in the pocket like he used to. He’s predictable, and opposing defenses know that.”
The four-time Super Bowl champion made his comments in the latest of his “One Man’s Opinion” posts.
Bleier also was critical of the Steelers’ inability to pressure Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, preparation, game planning, and failure to adjust once the team got down 23-0.
Hall of Famer “Mean” Joe Greene and former Steelers Super Bowl champion Ryan Clark have also shared their distaste for recent Steelers outings on radio and television respectively.
Is Pat back?
Rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth didn’t play in that Steelers loss to the Chiefs. He got a concussion against the Tennessee Titans. This was his second time in the protocol this season. Freiermuth also suffered a head injury during the waning moments of that blowout loss to the Bengals.
The Steelers’ first official injury report won’t come out until after Thursday’s practice since the club doesn’t play again until Monday night. But on Tuesday, Freiermuth had an encouraging post on social media, hinting that he will be in uniform against the Browns.
The Penn State product posted a picture of himself with the words, “See Yinz Monday Night.”
Freiermuth had four catches for 44 yards and a touchdown when the Steelers beat the Browns 15-10 earlier this season.
Now do it again
The Steelers are in the odd position of needing to root for the Chiefs, just one week removed from losing to them by 26 points.
That’s because the Steelers need to win their last two games and have the Bengals lose their last two games in order to win the AFC North. And the Bengals’ next game is at home against the Chiefs on Sunday afternoon.
Fortunately for Kansas City — and by extension, the Steelers — a few important Chiefs could be back in uniform for that game.
One of them is All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce. He missed the Steelers contest because he was on the covid-19 list. According to The Athletic’s Nate Taylor, the organization expects Kelce to clear covid protocols and be activated in time for their first practice of the week on Wednesday.
Taylor added that lineman Lucas Niang and linebacker Nick Bolton are also expected to return to the Chiefs’ active roster prior to Wednesday’s practice.
The status of Clyde Edwards-Helaire is a little more dicey. But he may be able to play as well. The running back injured his collarbone against the Steelers. Yet ESPN’s Adam Schefter suggested the Chiefs are leaving the door open for his participation in Cincinnati.
Chiefs’ RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire is now considered week-to-week with a bruised shoulder, per a league source. It will be challenging for Edwards-Helaire to play Sunday vs. Cincinnati but the fact that it is on the table is a win for CEH and the Chiefs.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 27, 2021
Edwards-Helaire has already been on injured reserve this season with an MCL sprain. He is the club’s leading rusher with 517 yards.
Look out for Leftwich?
A former Steeler is one of the coaching candidates to fill Urban Meyer’s shoes with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Jacksonville filed paperwork seeking to interview Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich. He was with the Steelers as a backup quarterback in 2008 and again from 2010-12.
The Jags are also said to be interested in Tampa Bay’s defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. Both he and Leftwich are currently working under former Steelers assistant Bruce Arians in Tampa.
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Jaguars are also considering Dallas’ two coordinators, Kellen Moore (offensive) and Dan Quinn (defensive).
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
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