Brown may have torn calf muscle

WR likely is out until postseason

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Steelers receiver Antonio Brown left the game Sunday against the New England Patriots in the first quarter with a calf injury and was taken to a hospital for further evaluation. Coach Mike Tomlin did not provide an update on Brown’s condition after the game, but ESPN reported that Brown has a partially torn calf muscle and that he is unlikely to play next week in Houston.

Brown is the latest in a long line of Steelers star players to get injured in the second half of the season. Pro Bowl linebacker Ryan Shazier injured his spinal cord and is out for the season. Joe Haden, their top cornerback, has missed the past five games with a fractured fibula.

Now Brown’s immediate future is in doubt though medical experts don’t believe the injury will keep him from playing in the playoffs.

“The bottom line is that Brown will likely miss the same amount of time with the partially torn calf muscle as he would have had he been diagnosed with compartment syndrome,” Dr. David Chao wrote Sunday night in the San Diego Tribune. “A calf strain almost certainly means he will sit out the final two regular-season games and be able to play in the Steelers’ playoff opener.”

There was one other injury of note for the Steelers. Backup running back James Conner sprained the MCL in his left knee.

Shazier a spectator

Steelers players heard whispers that injured linebacker Ryan Shazier might attend the Patriots game. When he was shown on the HeinzField scoreboard early in the first quarter his teammates were moved.

“When you see a guy like that on the Jumbtron a lot of emotions go though you,” defensive end and team captain Cameron Heyward said. “I just kept thinking, ‘Damn I wish he was out there.’ I know he wishes he could be out there. We wanted to play hard for him. I thought a lot of guys did, but we didn’t get that ‘W’ for him. He knew we played hard, but we’ll talk more about it later.”

Shazier injured his spinal cord in a game Dec. 4 at Cincinnati. He had spinal stabilization surgery two days later and has remained hospitalized. There haven’t been many updates on his condition, but his doctors at UPMC did send out a statement last week saying he had begun rehabilitation.

The Steelers did not provide any other details about his visit to Heinz Field.

“It was awesome,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “We would have loved to have won this game for him. To see him here was really cool.”

Bad timing

The Steelers picked a bad time to blow their first eightpoint fourth-quarter lead at Heinz Field. They had been 61-0-1 when they led by eight points or more entering the fourth quarter since Heinz Field opened in 2001.

“We had a lot of chances to close the door on that game,” Heyward said. “We live, we learn. But I definitely think there are a lot of positives to take with the negatives.

“It was one game. We can sit up here and say it was a big game, but it wasn’t the Super Bowl. We have a lot of games left. I’m looking forward to it.”

This ‘n’ that

Inside linebacker Vince Williams recorded his first career interception. It was the first interception the Steelers had against Patriots quarterback Tom Brady since September 2005. He had gone eight consecutive games against the Steelers without throwing an interception. … Le’Veon Bell now owns the team record for most receptions by a running back. He passed Franco HarrisSunday for first place.

Inactives

The Steelers deactivated cornerback Joe Haden, quarterback Josh Dobbs, receiver Justin Hunter, safety J.J. Wilcox, defensive tackle Daniel McCullers, offensive lineman Matt Feiler and tight end Vance McDonald.

The Patriots deactivated receiver Chris Hogan, defensive lineman Alan Branch, linebacker Kyle van Noy, running back Mike Gillislee, safety Brandon King, offensive lineman Cloe Crostan and defensive lineman Geneo Grissom.