First Call: Titans illegal practice session before Steelers game? J.J. Watt's clash with Bill O'Brien. Ex-Pirates pitchers shine.

Steelers fans want to know what exacerbated the Tennessee Titans coronavirus outbreak. Thursday’s “First Call” tries to bring that into focus.

Also, J.J. Watt apparently had a burr under his saddle about former coach Bill O’Brien.

The Duquesne basketball team is thinking mini-bubble. And more ex-Pirates pitchers are impacting the MLB playoffs.

TITANic problem

Three different outlets covering the Tennessee Titans — PaulKuharsky.com, The Tennessean and NewsChannel5 — are all reporting that members of the team held a workout at Montgomery Bell Academy last Wednesday.

That was a day after their training facility was shut down due to their coronavirus positive tests and a day before their game against the Steelers was postponed.

To clarify, E.S. Rose Park is near Belmont and some Belmont teams practice there, but it's actually a Metro Park that is not controlled by the University.

Still, per source, #Titans DBs worked out there the same day a bigger group worked at MBA earlier in the day. https://t.co/NTb0elx3Y6

— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) October 7, 2020

The school’s headmaster, Brad Gioia, told NewsChannel 5 that quarterback Ryan Tannehill requested the workout through the school’s athletic department. The television station reports that “A group of about 15 players took to the private school’s football field about midday for a short workout. That morning the team had received news of a ninth positive test in an outbreak that has grown to 22.”

Given that the team was still producing positive tests as of Wednesday, Oct. 7 — including wide receiver Corey Davis — the franchise’s game this Sunday versus the Buffalo Bills is also in jeopardy.

And with the league-wide effect of the Titans missing games starting to ripple out to the point that the NFL may have to impose a forfeit — or impact other clubs via scheduling reconfigurations — some are talking about massive penalties for the Titans for flouting the covid-19 prevention protocols.

There is widespread speculation that player and coach suspensions, heavy fines and maybe even loss of draft picks are under consideration by the NFL.

Along with that potential of a forfeit. This is something the NFL would prefer to avoid given the impact on competitive balance that would extend well beyond the Titans absorbing a loss and any of their opponents getting a free win.

Some fans in Pittsburgh want to see the Steelers get a retroactive forfeit from the Titans if Buffalo gets a win. I wouldn’t anticipate that happening. Because that game still may be able to take place, and the league may not want to reconfigure the entire schedule again — if that is deemed necessary.

Also, keep in mind, the surreptitious workout took place last Wednesday. Most of those who tested positive to trigger the Steelers postponement either had already done so or would have tested positive regardless of that workout. So the act — or dismissal of protocol — that was the catalyst for the Steelers postponement last Sunday is not yet known.

‘Watt’ happened in Houston?

The Steelers’ last game was a win over the Houston Texans back on Sept. 27.

Apparently, in the week leading up to that game, the earth was already crumbling under head coach Bill O’Brien.

The former Penn State sideline boss was already on shaky ground, having lost the first two games of the year and after making some questionable offseason moves in his role as team general manager.

That included trading away star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

But the final straw may have been a confrontation with star defensive lineman J.J. Watt in the week of practice before the team departed for Heinz Field.

A source tells me that JJ Watt and Bill O’Brien had a heated exchange on the practice field the week of the Steelers game in which JJ called BOB out for his coaching ability. It began a player revolt that ended up getting BOB fired.

— John Granato (@johngranato) October 7, 2020

The team lost that game and last weekend’s contest against the Minnesota Vikings. O’Brien was fired Monday.

‘Bubble-icious?’

The Duquesne men’s basketball team may be part of an early season college basketball bubble.

The Louisville Courier Journal is reporting that the Louisville Cardinals would be hosting a bubbled “multi-team event.” The paper describes it as being “a protected environment where teams could undergo covid-19 testing and play multiple non-conference games to begin the shortened season.”

Others who are said to be committed are UNC Greensboro and Winthrop. The Cardinals are expecting between four and eight more schools.

Duquesne has yet to confirm the story.

More Morton

Gerrit Cole won Game 1 of the American League Division Series for the Yankees over the Tampa Bay Rays Monday night.

Tampa countered in Game 2 when Tyler Glasnow beat J.A. Happ.

Now a fourth ex-Pirates pitcher factored into the series. Tampa right-hander Charlie Morton got the victory in Game 3 Wednesday as the Rays took a 2-1 series lead courtesy of an 8-4 win.

Morton started Wednesday’s game and completed five innings. He yielded just one run on four hits and two walks. He totaled six strikeouts.

Calm, cool, collected, Charlie pic.twitter.com/yRLLefDZHY

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) October 8, 2020

The Rays look to close out the series Thursday night.

Mark the Shark

A former Pirates All-Star closer got in on the act Wednesday, too.

Mark Melancon got the save for the Atlanta Braves as they blanked the Miami Marlins 2-0. Atlanta has a 2-0 series lead in that best-of-five on the National League side.

That’s Melancon’s fourth postseason save. He had two with the Braves last year and one with the Washington Nationals.

But he never had one with the Pirates.