DARK CLOUD LINGERS OVER BROWNS
COVID sidelines head coach, star left guard for team's first playoff game since 2002
Sure, Kevin Stefanski is the first head coach to lead the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs since 2002, but was his positive COVID-19 test the worst news the team received on Tuesday?
Or was the fact the team will also be without Pro Bowl left guard Joel Bitonio for Sunday's wild card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers a bigger loss? Quite possibly it's the latter. Stefanski, Bitonio, receiver KhaDarel Hodge, tight ends coach Drew Petzing and defensive backs coach Jeff Howard have all tested positive for the virus and will remain home as Cleveland tries to win its first post-season game since 1994, when three interceptions and a Vinny Testaverde-led offence led the Browns to a 20-13 wild card win over the New England Patriots.
On Tuesday, the Browns also officially put defensive end Olivier Vernon (Achilles) and offensive lineman Nick Harris (knee) on injured reserve.
Stefanski is reportedly asymptomatic and feeling fine, and he'll virtually prepare the team all week.
But he's not permitted to be involved on game day, leaving special teams co-ordinator Mike Priefer to serve as acting head coach and offensive co-ordinator Alex Van Pelt to call the plays.
But Bitonio will really be missed.
A starter on an offensive line that created holes for the Browns' third-best ground game in the NFL behind the Ravens and Titans, the six-foot-four, 320-pound veteran was also deemed to be the second-best pass-blocking guard in the league by Pro Football Focus.
Bitonio's contributions kept Baker Mayfield's jersey among the cleanest of all 32 starting quarterbacks.
Even with him suited up, the Browns' O-line was going to have its hands full against a Steelers rush that topped the NFL in sacks with 56, led by league leader T.J. Watt (15) and Stephon Tuitt (11).
So yes, the heavy dark cloud that hovered over Cleveland — especially for the last half decade — is lingering. Stefanski guided the Browns to 11 wins for just the fifth time since 1954, but the franchise just keeps getting hit by lightning.
Over the past two weeks, the Browns have placed 17 players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, and 10 of them are still there.
The NFL currently has no plans to postpone the 8:30 p.m. ET wild card weekend finale because the positive tests are believed to be from community spread, and not originating in the team's facility.
More Browns testing positive would really put the NFL in a spot.
BAD BLOOD: The Giants-Eagles rivalry surely has become the most heated in the league after Philadelphia coach Doug Pederson was accused of tanking against Washington on Sunday — costing New York the division title — and the fallout from his decision to replace starting quarterback Jalen Hurts with third-stringer Nate Sudfeld.
A couple of more logs were thrown on the fire Tuesday, first by a Philadelphia Inquirer story that said two Eagles defensive players had to be held back from approaching Pederson when he made the switch with his team trailing by only three points in the fourth quarter, and then by a radio interview with running back Miles Sanders.
“Man, if I'm being honest, nobody liked the decision — nobody,” Sanders told 94WIP. “That's all I can really say. I don't know who was the main person behind the decision. All I know is that a lot of people on the team were confused.”
The purest sound clip came from Giants head coach Joe Judge the day after Sudfeld gave up two turnovers and was sacked twice in the 20-14 Eagles loss, a game that Pederson insisted he was playing to win.
Said Judge: “To disrespect the effort that everyone put forward to make this season a success for the NFL, to disrespect the game by not going out there and competing for 60 minutes and doing everything you can to help those players win, we will never do that as long as I'm the head coach of the New York Giants.”
If Pederson does survive a potential mutiny by his players, there could be a brawl the first time the Giants and Eagles face each other next year. Between the coaches.
DOWN AND OUTS: From outside the Miami Dolphins organization there have been suggestions the team will use the No. 3 pick in next year's draft, obtained by the trading of Laremy Tunsil to the Texans, to take a quarterback. Not gonna happen, if you believe Dolphins GM Chris Grier.
“Tua (Tagovailoa), I'm very happy with,” Grier told the Miami Herald. “He's our starting quarterback. I thought Tua did a great job of working himself through the whole process.” …
Frank Gore has yet to decide if he's going to retire or return for a 17th season. At 37 years old, Gore averaged 3.5 yards a carry for 653 rushing yards with the Jets, cementing himself in third place on the all-time leaders list with an even 16,000 yards, behind Emmitt Smith (18,355) and Walter Payton (16,726).
“I still have fun playing football,” Gore told The Associated Press.
If he can hang in a little longer, who knows, he could one day play in the same backfield as his son. Frank Gore Jr. is a running back with Southern Miss.
I don't know who was the main person behind the decision. All I know is that a lot of people on the team were confused.