First Call: Steelers, Browns took field complaints to NFLPA; injury questions for Steelers-Bengals Thursday night
The latest edition of “First Call” has the injury reports for Thursday night’s Steelers-Bengals game in Cincinnati. We also have an update on those complaints from players about the Acrisure Stadium playing surface.
Plus, we talk some hockey as the Penguins get ready to play their next game in Los Angeles, and the Robert Morris men’s team opens its season with a top-10 opponent on the road.
Turning up the heat
The discussion over the playing surface at Acrisure Stadium isn’t going away.
According to ProFootballTalk.com, players from both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns took their complaints directly to the players’ union immediately after the game ended Sunday.
“Per NFL Players Association sources, players from both teams almost immediately contacted the union to express ‘outrage’ about the ‘embarrassing’ condition of the grass. The NFLPA has conveyed its concern to the NFL,” Mike Florio wrote on Wednesday.
Cameron Heyward is the NFLPA rep in the Steelers locker room.
“Honestly, it was (crap),” Heyward said on Tuesday. “I lost one of my teammates (Miles Killebrew, knee). That makes me sad about it…. I like grass, but that wasn’t grass we played on.”
After the game, Aaron Rodgers called the field “borderline unplayable” by the end of the game.
Former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger said the field has been an issue for a long time and said that Pitt should be kicked out of the stadium because he thinks their games on the field make the situation worse.
Injury report
Calvin Austin won’t play again Thursday night against the Cincinnati Bengals because of his shoulder injury. He’s been ruled out. The Steelers wide receiver was injured in Week 4’s win over the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin and didn’t play at home after the bye against Cleveland.
Safety DeShon Elliott hasn’t practiced all week due to a personal matter and is questionable to play Thursday. Malik Harrison is coming back off of injured reserve and was a limited participant throughout the week.
The linebacker was placed on injured reserve Sept. 10. He must remain there until Week 7, but his 21-day practice window opened on Monday.
In Cincy, star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson is questionable with a hip injury. Wide receiver Charlie Jones (ribs) and guard Lucas Patrick (calf) are questionable, too. Tight ends Mike Gesicki (pectoral) and Tanner Hudson (concussion) are out.
King me!
After blowing an early 2-0 lead in Anaheim and losing 4-3, the Pittsburgh Penguins head to Los Angeles for a game against the Kings. Faceoff is at 10 p.m. Thursday.
While the Pens are 2-2-0, Los Angeles is 1-2-1. Adrian Kempe has five points to lead the way in L.A.
Rickard Rakell had an overtime game-winner when these clubs first met last year. The final score was 3-2 as the Pens won at home on Dec. 17.
PENS WIN‼️
Rickard Rakell is the hero for the @penguins in @Energizer overtime! pic.twitter.com/HBXhEh3Nf8
— NHL (@NHL) December 18, 2024
The Pens also won 5-1 in L.A. about a month later. Alex Nedeljkovic had both wins in goal. The two teams will rematch at PPG Paints Arena on Nov. 9.
ESPNBet had the Kings at 25-1 to win the Stanley Cup at the start of the year. The Penguins were 200-1, the longest odds in the Eastern Conference.
Lighting it up
A former Penguin was part of an offensive explosion in Buffalo as the Sabres got their first win of the year.
Jason Zucker scored twice as the Sabres beat Ottawa, 8-4, in Western New York. He has three goals for the year now.
Jason Zucker can't be stopped! ????#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/5eXdIBpEjE
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) October 16, 2025
Buffalo’s improved to 1-3-0. Another former Penguin, Lars Eller, scored in defeat for Ottawa (1-3-0).
Tough task
The Robert Morris men’s hockey team opens its season with a tough road series at Michigan. Game 1 in Ann Arbor is Thursday at 7 p.m. The rematch is at 7 p.m. Friday.
The 4-0-0 Wolverines are No. 4 in the USCHO Poll. In the USA Hockey men’s poll, they are third.
Behind Penguins prospect Will Horcoff, the Wolverines roasted Mercyhurst, 11-1 and 7-0, in a weekend series to open their season two weeks ago. Horcoff had five goals over the two games.
Will Horcoff talks about his five-goal weekend, his busy summer and the early chemistry of this year's team #GoBlue〽️ pic.twitter.com/xHktSoUy3F
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) October 9, 2025
Last weekend, Michigan topped No. 7 Providence, 5-1 and 3-1.
On the season, Michigan’s T.J. Hughes has a goal and four assists. He had been a Colonials commit prior to the program’s shutdown following the 2020-21 season. Last year, he was second-team All-Big Ten.
The RMU women’s team (3-3-0) is on the road this weekend, playing a two-game series Friday and Saturday in Connecticut against Yale.
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.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.