First Call: Tyler Boyd knocks George Pickens; T.J. Watt puzzled why some Steelers don't respond to Mike Tomlin
Pitt alum Tyler Boyd takes a swipe at Pittsburgh Steelers receiver George Pickens as his Bengals prepare to visit Acrisure Stadium. Damontae Kazee’s suspension is upheld for the remainder of the regular season. T.J. Watt seems baffled that some Steelers aren’t responding to Mike Tomlin.
Jaromir Jagr is still playing hockey in the Czech Republic, and Robert Morris’ hoops team enjoys an exciting win.
All that in Thursday’s “First Call.”
Boyd picks at Pickens
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd has taken shots at his hometown Steelers before.
Now the former Pitt Panther and Clairton Bear is directing his criticism at wide receiver George Pickens. When asked about the wave of
“It just shows the lack of camaraderie that’s over there,” Boyd said via a video posted by ESPN.com’s Ben Baby. “I can’t really talk for anybody, but when things ain’t going well, you’ve still got to perform at a high level and do what you can to help your team. … When things ain’t going good, that’s when your true colors show. I like to be the same player week in, week out, whether it’s going good or bad for me.”
Wednesday afternoon, coach Mike Tomlin assured Pittsburgh media members that Pickens will play Saturday against the Bengals.
Remember, last year, Pickens was ejected after hitting Boyd and then getting into a scrum during an onside kick attempt at Acrisure Stadium. The Bengals won that game 37-30.
Watt left wondering
The NFL Network’s Rich Eisen has admitted to being a full-on honk for Mike Tomlin. In recent weeks, Eisen has gotten so verbose in his support for the embattled Steelers coach that he has had some very pointed words and spirited back-and-forth barbs with Steelers fans and, um, “certain” media members who dared to criticize the deified Coach T.
But after doing play-by-play for the Steelers’ loss in Indianapolis, the Steelers were so bad and showed such little effort (see Pickens’ examples above), Eisen went so far as to apologize for previously telling some Steelers fans that they were “out of their
Eisen made those comments during his talk show on Monday. However, what was more interesting than that was a story that Eisen relayed about a pre-broadcast meeting with outside linebacker T.J. Watt in which Watt said that Tomlin still is a “dynamic” leader. But he also insisted that some younger players on this team are refusing to hear the message.
“T.J. Watt said it was ‘wild’ to him that some of the players, upon hearing Tomlin’s (messaging in team meetings) don’t respond in a way on (the) field — or on a practice field. He used that word. It’s ‘wild’ that some of them don’t want to practice in the way that everybody is supposed to practice,” Eisen said.
Then Eisen said Watt spoke to a larger social issue.
“T.J. Watt also said that the younger generation takes criticism personally. He didn’t call it a problem. I just inferred it was,” Eisen said.
I’m sure that inference is accurate. And it’s equally “wild” that players such as Watt, Cameron Heyward and Minkah Fitzpatrick also can’t reach, don’t want to try to reach, haven’t felt the need to reach, or have been rebuffed when trying to get these players to fall in line.
It’s hard to lead when no one wants to follow. And we’ve all called Fitzpatrick, Heyward and Watt “great leaders” on the Steelers in the past. But maybe leading by example isn’t enough. Or if they’ve tried to lead in other ways off the field, the message isn’t getting through.
Just like it isn’t for Tomlin.
So the Steelers either need a few better leaders or a lot more players who are willing to follow in their footsteps.
More sports
• Mike Tomlin: WR George Pickens won't be benched for Steelers game against Bengals
• Kenny Pickett has ‘good day’ at Steelers practice, Mike Tomlin leaves open he’ll play vs. Bengals
• 'I feel like this is my final stop': Andrew McCutchen says he hopes to retire as a Pirate
Kazee still kicked out
Steelers safety Damontae Kazee’s suspension has been upheld, and he has been ruled out for the remainder of the regular season.
That was the result of a hearing with officer James Thrash. However, Thrash said that Kazee can return to action if the Steelers qualify for the playoffs.
That seems like a moot point based on how the past three weeks have gone. Kazee was ejected after hitting Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman in the first half Saturday. He was flagged on the play and ejected.
This angle of the Pittman hit is WILD. pic.twitter.com/ltiI8Ip5o3
— Jonesy (@RoyJonesy) December 16, 2023
At first glance, the hit looked egregious and risky. I understood the flag and the ejection. Upon closer examination, though, I can’t believe the league gave him three games. That’s far too excessive, in my opinion, especially since the NFL let it be known that Kazee was a “repeat violator” of player safety rules, with multiple fines in the past. But his agent, Ron Butler, was quoted as saying that many of those fines had been rescinded.
Still going strong
Jaromir Jagr is getting his No. 68 retired in Pittsburgh in February. But he’s still wearing it in action on the ice over in the Czech Republic.
In Game 1 of his 36th professional hockey season, Jagr registered an assist for the Kladno team he owns.
???? Jaromír Jágr hned boduje! ???? Jeho ránu doklepl do sítě Jakub Strnad a @RytiriKladno v Pardubicích snižují. #TELH | #momentytelh | #PCEKLA pic.twitter.com/F4967PCMAj
— Tipsport extraliga (@telhcz) December 20, 2023
The Kladno club ended up losing 4-3 to Pardubice, but Jagr registered 13:52 of ice time at age 51. Kladno (7-13-6) is 13th of 14 teams in the league. Pardubice is 22-3-4 and leads the league.
Kladno is Jagr’s hometown team. He’s been the majority owner since 2011. He played with them in 1988-89 before being drafted by the Penguins in 1990.
Jagr has 1,921 NHL points. That’s second in league history. He’s fourth all-time in games played (1,733) and goals (766) and fifth in assists (1,155).
On the Horizon
Pitt’s win over Purdue Fort-Wayne wasn’t the only Horizon league result of note in Western Pa. hoops Wednesday night.
Robert Morris scored a 75-73 win over St. Francis to improve to 4-8. Justice Williams had 20 points, and Markeese Hastings had 19 to aid the Colonials’ cause. Williams’ three-pointer with only two seconds left was the difference in the game.
That just happened ????#BobbyMo #GRIT pic.twitter.com/s54rqrFbm4
— RMU Basketball (@RMUMBasketball) December 21, 2023
At one point, RMU was down 60-42. Andy Toole’s team next plays Friday at home against Cornell.
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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