Brown says injured toe feels a lot better
Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown needed every bit of extra rest he had last week to play in the Monday night game in Cincinnati. Coming back to play on a short week could have been an issue for Brown, but he said his injured toe is feeling much better and doesn’t believe it will be an issue when the Steelers play the Ravens Sunday night at Heinz Field.
After sitting out the final days of practice before the Bengals game, Brown practiced every day this week, though he was limited Thursday.
“I never want to play a game without practicing,” said Brown, who had 101 receiving yards caught the tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter against the Bengals. “That’s not ideal for me. I’m a guy who wants to be out there and take every rep to get a great feel and preparation. But last week was less fortunate for me. It was a challenge. I was grateful I was able to pull through, but I’m grateful for this week and excited about this opportunity to be out there with my guys. The arrow’s pointed up. I’m feeling a lot better.”
Brown’s prognosis was a bit of good news on the injury front in an otherwise bad week. The Steelers will play without starting linebacker Ryan Shazier and cornerback Joe Haden. Shazier’s backup, Tyler Matakevich, also will not play.
Safety Mike Mitchell, who has missed two of the past three games with an ankle injury, is questionable. Mitchell was limited in practice Friday after being a full participant Wednesday and Thursday.
Necessary block
The disconnection between NFL teams and the employees in the league offices administering suspensions and fines continues late into the week. When John Runyan, the NFL’s vice president of football operations, sent a letter to Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster this week to explain why he was being suspended he wrote “…you lined up a defender and delivered a violent and unnecessary shot to his head and neck area.”
Yet every Steelers player and coach who was asked about the play this week deemed it necessary. The most recent being offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who said Thursday after practice that he would have been angry at Smith-Schuster had he not made the block on Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict.
“He just can’t stand over the guy,” Haley said. “That was the error to me in what he did. That’s a live play on a very big, aggressive linebacker. We’re going to be ripping his butt if he doesn’t make the block, so the only thing wrong he did was stand over him.”
Heyward nominated
The Steelers nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award is defensive end Cameron Heyward, the second time in three years he has been nominated the award.
All 32 teams nominate one player from their team for the award, which is named in the honor of Payton, a Hall of Fame running back, and is given to the player that does outstanding work in the community as well as excellence on the field. The NFL will name the winner at the Super Bowl.
“[Payton] was one of my dad’s heroes,” said Heyward, whose father, Craig, was a running back in the NFL from 1988-98. “My dad, when it came to children, going back to Children’s Hospital, especially in Pittsburgh, I think Walter made him understand there are things you can care about and use your platform to help other people out. That’s one thing my dad always tried to instill in me.”
Heyward’s charity is the Heyward House, and Nationwide presented him with a check for $5,000 Friday for his foundation.