The Daily Briefing Friday, October 1, 2021

Now, for SB56, the NFL reveals a show of five headliners – and every one is someone whose name we know.  Julius Young of FoxNews.com:

The Super Bowl LVI halftime show performers have been revealed.

Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar are all set to perform for the first time together as they take the stage at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California for the 2022 Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Collectively the group of acts holds 43 Grammys.

“Artists like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg were at the forefront of the West Coast hip hop revolution, so to be able to bring them back to LA, where it all began alongside Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar will prove to be an epic, unforgettable celebration of the impact hip hop has today,” Todd Kaplan, VP of Marketing, Pepsi said in a statement.

“The Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show has become a landmark cultural moment, bringing about some of the most iconic performances over the years – from JLo and Shakira to Lady Gaga to The Weeknd – and we are thrilled to bring together such an incredible array of talented, record-breaking musicians to put on a performance for the ages.”

CHICAGO

The Bears plead uncertainty about their starting quarterback for the Lions.

The Bears will be taking their decision about who to start at quarterback into the weekend.

Andy Dalton has been listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Lions due to the knee injury that sidelined him for Week Three’s loss to the Browns. Dalton was a limited participant in practice all week.

Justin Fields was a full participant in practice all week after dinging his thumb during the Cleveland game. He does not have an injury designation for Sunday.

Bears head coach Matt Nagy said earlier this week that Dalton remains the team’s No. 1 quarterback when healthy and said on Friday that it will be a game-time decision about whether he’s healthy enough to fill that role this weekend.

Linebacker Khalil Mack (foot) is also listed as questionable after a limited practice Friday. He didn’t work on Wednesday or Thursday. Safety Tashaun Gipson (hamstring) didn’t practice all week and is listed as doubtful.

GREEN BAY

A day after QB AARON RODGERS drolly touted Pittsburgh, he has this to say about his love for the 2021 Packers.  Jason Wilde of The Athletic:

The word hung in the air just long enough Thursday evening to make one wonder if the in-vehicle hands-free Bluetooth inside Aaron Rodgers’ ride had disconnected the call.

Sensitive.

The Green Bay Packers quarterback was driving away from Lambeau Field, his in-stadium work for the day finished. The conversation was about the notion — preposterous to those who know him well — that in the wake of his offseason of discontent, the NFL’s reigning MVP had returned to his job not fully invested in the team, his teammates, the organization or winning.

Of course, as Mason Crosby’s 51-yard game-winning field goal sailed through the Levi’s Stadium uprights as time expired Sunday night and Rodgers’ Packers beat the San Francisco 49ers, Rodgers sure appeared all-in, his sideline jump for joy having elevated him higher off the turf than 37-year-old quarterbacks are supposed to soar. Once he landed, he saw his younger teammates sprinting toward the far end zone, a scene he rightly determined might be dangerous for a man his age.

Instead, he looked around the immediate vicinity. And unlike Jim Valvano’s iconic search after his North Carolina State Wolfpack’s improbable 1983 NCAA men’s basketball championship, Rodgers had no trouble locating people to hug. First, it was defensive coordinator Joe Barry, whose defense had given up the lead in the final minute but had been bailed out by Rodgers and the offense.

“I’ll be the first to admit, I had bad body language, man. I was very upset. I was pissed, quite frankly. And I was sulking, to be quite honest,” Barry recounted Thursday. “I didn’t even notice Aaron was there, and then just obviously the kick went through, and I turned and he was right there. I think I just, I needed a hug at that point. What an absolute stud.”

Then it was quarterbacks coach/offensive passing-game coordinator Luke Getsy, who initially had designed the first of two Rodgers-to-Davante Adams completions that covered a total of 42 yards in 34 seconds, setting up Crosby’s kick. Suddenly, Rodgers was in the air again, only this time, it was because Getsy was hoisting him off the ground in a celebratory bear hug that caught both men by surprise.

“I’m typically a pretty even-keeled person, but I just happened to turn to my right and there he was,” Getsy explained Thursday. “And his passion and his fire and excitement of that accomplishment there just kind of got to me.”

Passion. Fire. Excitement.

For Rodgers, that reaction was standard operating procedure for him after a last-second victory. He’d had plenty of those before, including in a 2016 NFC Divisional Playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys, when cameras had also captured him in all-out sideline hug mode as another of Crosby’s game-winning 51-yarders had sent the team to the NFC Championship Game, riding an eight-game winning streak that had coincided with Rodgers famously positing that the Packers could “run the table” after a midseason four-game losing streak left them at 4-6 with six weeks left in the regular season.

But for a portion of the Packers’ passionate fan base that had viewed his frustrations with the team’s front office during the offseason as a personal affront to them, Rodgers’ jubilation after beating the 49ers didn’t fit the narrative they’d come to believe: That Rodgers was going through the motions and biding his time until he could play for someone else in 2022.

And that, Rodgers had forcefully said several days before the 49ers game, was not “rooted in fact,” as he put it.

“Because I care so much, I would be sensitive if people were questioning my commitment to the team or whether or not I’m invested, or that I had one foot in, one foot out,” Rodgers told The Athletic during his commute home. “Yeah, that definitely would bother me.”

The self-aware Rodgers knows all too well that that word has been used to describe him frequently over the years — including in 2012, when then-teammates Clay Matthews and Greg Jennings told CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that their Super Bowl-winning quarterback was “sensitive.” And when Rodgers took issue with it, one of the show’s executive producers clapped back at him by saying his reaction proved how sensitive he was.

In recent years, especially of late after he embraced what he called a “journey of self-actualization” last year, Rodgers has paid less attention to what’s said and written about him, although Packers public-relations staffer Tom Fanning does keep him abreast of anything in the media that might lead to questions during his weekly Q&A sessions with reporters.

“The reason why people might have thought he was more sensitive back then compared to now is that when you’re in this game, there’s enough tension, anxiety, expectations, scrutiny that goes into it if you’re (just) a player, let alone the quarterback, right?” said veteran tight end Marcedes Lewis, one of Rodgers’ closest friends on the team. “So for once, he got a chance (during the offseason) to really just take some time for himself and put a lot of things in perspective.

“(It’s about) being able to be in control of your moment. And I think ’12’ is just in control of his moment. He’s seeing it from a different lens. We feed off of that. He’s definitely the best I’ve ever been around. Not just as a person, but just as a player. Like, I’ve never been around nobody like that. Watching him work, how hard he is on himself, it’s just different.”

In fact, Rodgers has come so far that he even acknowledges that he is sensitive — but not in the way he might have been in the past.

“I think the term ‘sensitive’ has always been used in a derogatory sense, and because of that, I didn’t embrace it,” Rodgers explained. “I am a sensitive person. I have feelings. I am empathetic. So I embrace those parts of me. I don’t like the narrative that spins it in a direction that I don’t like with respect to things that I feel like are part of my character.

“Meaning what I say, and saying what I mean, are important to me. And that’s why I didn’t mince words when I came back (at the start of training camp). I said I took my time because I wanted to get to 100 percent all-in, in my mind. And I hadn’t missed an offseason before, which was difficult and weird and strange.

“I wouldn’t just come back for the money or the records or anything. I’d only come back because I deeply care about the organization, my teammates. And that meant my commitment was exactly where it needed to be for us to accomplish everything that I felt like we could accomplish.”

To those closest to Rodgers — Lewis, Adams, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, head coach Matt LaFleur and Getsy — the thought that Rodgers wasn’t fully invested in this year’s team is absurd. And even if they privately wondered where Rodgers would be mentally upon his return, those concerns dissipated quickly.

“When we first had to report for training camp, I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Lewis admitted. “Him and I had had conversations, but leading up to camp, like the last two weeks, we didn’t really talk. I wasn’t sure. But when I saw him that first day and he gave me that look, I was like, ‘This is my guy. We’re trying to get this championship.’ Like, that’s it. When you’re close with somebody on and off the field, you don’t have to say much. A lot of the communication is indirect, and you get it. It’s non-verbal. I knew what it was at that point.”

Added Hackett: “I think the minute he got here, nothing was different. We all know Aaron is always going to be all-in in whatever he is going to do. I remember him telling me the stories of ‘Jeopardy!’ and how much he studied and worked. That’s just the type of man he is. Anytime he’s going to commit to something, he’s going to do everything he can to become the best at it. The minute he walked in the door, he was ready to rock and roll.”

For his part, Rodgers said he didn’t need Sunday night’s win to confirm that he was where he belonged. Like it had for those he encountered at the start of camp, it became evident almost immediately.

“That was all I needed to remind myself why I felt good about coming back and what I was looking forward to and those special moments that you just can’t get outside of the locker room or training camp or interactions with 89 other guys,” Rodgers said. “I didn’t need three weeks. I barely needed three days or even three hours. It was within the first days of being back, I knew, ‘Yeah, I made the right decision.’”

Rodgers also pushed back on the idea that contemplating retirement while he was away this offseason was a sign that he’s lost his zest for the game and might not be fully invested. Having had a front-row seat for his predecessor, Brett Favre, doing his will-he-or-won’t-he retirement dance after each season, Rodgers is acutely aware of how such talk is viewed by Packers fans.

But he vowed Thursday that this isn’t the beginning of an annual Favre-style melodrama and that he has no intention of making 2021 his final season.

“I’m not afraid of it,” Rodgers said of retirement. “I’m not scared of what that looks like or feels like — or being out of the spotlight, or being out of a position of influence. That doesn’t bother me or worry me at all. I look forward to that down the line.

“But I still have unfinished business and things to accomplish on the field. I didn’t just come back for one year or one season. I don’t really want to keep that conversation going, because there’s not much to say there. I think I’ll know when my time is done, and it won’t be hemming and hawing all offseason. It’ll be pretty quick after the season that, ‘This will be it, and we’ll move on.’

“But, to embrace those feelings, took away any anxiety over what retirement looks like. I don’t fear it, I’m not worried about it. But I’m not expecting that to be the case anytime soon.”

Whether he expects to be back in Green Bay in 2022 is still, to borrow one of his phrases, a “beautiful mystery.” During Thursday’s conversation, he in no way ruled it out and even dropped a few breadcrumbs about how he’s seeing encouraging signs that the cultural changes he’d hoped to see at 1265 Lombardi Avenue are possible.

“Because of what I expect of myself from a growth standpoint every single year, I always leave a little bit of possibility of people around me in my life to be able to grow in a similar fashion,” Rodgers said. “Sometimes you don’t see it. Sometimes it’s the monotony of Groundhog Day year after year after year. But I have seen a lot of really interesting growth from people in the organization — teammates, and non-teammates, and I think that’s been probably the most surprising for me.

“From a day-to-day (perspective), guys I see and talk to every day, guys like Preston Smith, and Allen Lazard, and Robert Tonyan, just the things that they talk about, that they’re into, I see a lot of growth in those guys. I see a lot of growth in other areas, too. Guys in the front office, coaches, and that’s really exciting to me.

“I’m not taking credit for any of it. I think that’d be the most egotistical thing to do. But I do know that part of my role is to continue to speak about things that are important to me, and positive and growth and that mindset is very important to me. And to see other people making those decisions to change and grow and better themselves is really cool.”

MINNESOTA

A Vikings injury update from NFL.com:

Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook (ankle) and linebacker Anthony Barr (knee), who both missed last week’s game, were seen on the field for the start of practice, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports. Defensive tackle Michael Pierce was not on the practice field, Pelissero added. Cook, Barr and Pierce are officially ruled as questionable.

WASHINGTON

FT Washington has its top free-agent signing ready to roll.  NFL.com:

Washington’s biggest free-agent grab this offseason will finally make his long-awaited debut on Sunday.

Curtis Samuel is set to play in Washington’s road tilt versus the Atlanta Falcons, coach Ron Rivera announced Friday.

“He’ll be active,” Rivera told reporters. “He’ll be ready to roll.”

Samuel was placed on injured reserve ahead of Week 1 with a groin injury which kept him on the sidelines for most of training camp and held out of any preseason action. WFT signed the dynamic wideout to a three-year, $34.5 million contract in March.

Washington will finally get to see a return on their investment come Sunday, and Samuel’s presence is welcomed for an offense that sits in the bottom half of per game averages in passing (318.7), rushing (97.0) and points (22.3). Samuel has the ability to contribute through the air and on the ground coming off a career-high 1,051 scrimmage yards last season in Carolina. His threat alone should boost an offense that is hoping to do favors for a high-powered defense that has struggled out of the gate.

Meanwhile, running back Antonio Gibson is officially questionable for Week 4 with a shin injury.

TAMPA BAY

Now in Florida, TE ROB GRONKOWSKI with some tips on where to go to live like Gronk in New England:

When you travel back to Foxborough, outside of your home, what is one place you have to visit?

Gronkowski: “I would say hiking through the trails. There’s a state park in Foxborough (F. Gilbert Hills) where a lot of people go. I also go mountain biking in the woods throughout those trails. You get fresh air, can go around the lake, which is a beautiful view. During the season, I would do it on a day off here and there. In the offseason, it would sometimes be five times a week — just clear your mind, enjoy nature, the boat rides, there’s always people canoeing and boating in the lake. You can just sit on the benches and it’s a good way to clear your mind. So that’s definitely something I have to do when I’m back.”

Best season in New England and why?

Gronkowski: “I’d go with summertime. It’s beautiful there. Everything is popping. In the other seasons, everyone is kind of bundled up because it’s colder, but once summer hits, it’s just mayhem. A free-for-all. A great atmosphere overall, with so many places to go to in New England — from the city of Boston to the Cape, to Newport, to Rhode Island and all the beaches there, and all the way up to New Hampshire.”

Favorite beach?

Gronkowski: “Going up to Lake Winnipesaukee [in New Hampshire]. Just a great time.”

Dinner plans, what is the first stop?

Gronkowski: “In Foxborough, I’d go to Tavolino’s. I would just love to order on my phone and go up there to the pickup window. That was one of my favorite things to do for food. Overall, there’s many good eats in Boston. Strega Waterfront was one of my favorite spots for the food and atmosphere. In the North End, Arya [Trattoria].”

Charity event you miss the most?

Gronkowski: “I would say the One Mission event at Patriot Place when I buzzed my head. That was always a good one, with so many kids there. They always looked up to me, and we were raising about $1 million a year at one point before the pandemic hit. It was a lot of fun, too, with the music popping.”

Do you go Foxboro or Foxborough?

Gronkowski: “Definitely the ‘boro.’ I always thought that’s what it was, and then the first time I saw the ‘ough,’ I thought it was spelled wrong. I was like, ‘No, that’s not how you spell it.’ That’s when I realized it was spelled both ways.”

However, Gronk has a rib injury and has been listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game.

But CB RICHARD SHERMAN will be active.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Cornerback Richard Sherman joined the Buccaneers earlier this week and he’s set to be in the lineup for the team’s road game against the Patriots this weekend.

Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said on Friday that Sherman will be active for the Week Four matchup with New England. Arians indicated that Sherman would only be up if the team’s injury situation made it necessary and that’s turned out to be the case.

Jamel Dean has been ruled out for Sunday because of the knee injury that limited him in practice this week. The team is also without Sean Murphy-Bunting and the state of the cornerback group led the team to sign Sherman in the first place.

Arians also said that running back Giovani Bernard is out because of his knee injury

KANSAS CITY

The last two losses have left Andy Reid with opportunity to make history in Philadelphia, where his NFL career started.  Aaron Ladd of KHSB.com:

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is on the cusp of history.

A win Sunday would be Reid’s 100th total with Kansas City, making him only the second head coach ever to cross the 100 mark with two teams.

Asked by reporters on Zoom after practice Friday, Reid was his usual self; hesitant to place the focus on himself, but instead getting his team back on the right track.

“We’re there for the business trip part of it,” Reid said in response to the potential milestone.

Reid’s Chiefs have been sloppy early, tallying six turnovers through three weeks.

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“That’s why you go there. And what this is really all about, it’s not about me,” Reid said. “It’s not about [me] having lived in Philadelphia…right now it’s about playing better football and taking care of business.”

Reid is 2-0 all-time against his former team.

– – –

Don’t count on WR JOSH GORDON being part of the party.  Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com:

Receiver Josh Gordon signed to the Chiefs’ practice squad earlier this week. He has practiced three days.

Considering Gordon has not played in an NFL game since Dec. 29, 2019, he will need more time to return to game shape.

“Listen, he looks in pretty good shape,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, via John Dixon of arrowheadpride.com. “I mean, he’s got a little less body fat than I do. He’s trimmed down, and he’s really fit. One thing he’s been doing is working out. . . . I think he’s in good shape. He’s been out here working very hard.”

Gordon also will need more time to learn the playbook, and Reid confirmed the obvious: The Chiefs won’t promote Gordon to the active roster for Sunday’s game.

“He’s not playing this week,” Reid said. “He’s getting himself ready — learning the playbook, doing the mental part and getting a little of the rust knocked off. You can tell he’s very talented. You guys have all seen him play before — I’m not telling you something you don’t know — but he is a talented football player.”

Gordon led the NFL with 1,646 yards receiving in 2013, earning All-Pro honors in his second NFL season. Six suspensions, though, have prevented Gordon from duplicating that success. He has played only 28 games since the start of the 2015 seasons.

BALTIMORE

QB LAMAR JACKSON returned to practice on Friday.  Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com:

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson looked “real good” in his return to practice Friday, putting him on track to start Sunday’s road game against the unbeaten Denver Broncos.

Jackson had been sidelined the past two days with a sore back.

Asked about Jackson’s chances of starting Sunday, coach John Harbaugh said, “He was a full participant today.”

Jackson moved around well during the media viewing portion of practice and didn’t appear to favor his back at any point. He threw on the run, moved around in the pocket smoothly and even leaped in the air when an assistant threw him the ball.

“I felt he looked real good,” Ravens wide receiver Marquise Brown said. “He’s been looking good all season. He’s been precise. [I’m] happy he’s back practicing.”

On Thursday, Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman said Jackson was dealing with “a little back flare-up” and indicated he didn’t think it was serious.

Jackson is facing one of the NFL’s top defenses in Denver. The Broncos have allowed a league-low 8.7 points per game, and linebacker Von Miller was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month with four sacks.

This marked only the second time in Jackson’s four-year career that he had been sidelined for consecutive practices. He has never missed a game because of an injury.

The only other time Jackson was out for back-to-back practices was last season, when he was sidelined with a knee injury and an illness. He then ran a career-low two times in a 27-3 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

This season, Jackson has been hit an NFL-high 44 times, including 12 times in Sunday’s 19-17 win at the Detroit Lions.

Through three games, Jackson has carried the Baltimore offense, leading the NFL in yards per rush (7.2) and yards per completion (14.4). He has produced a league-best four runs over 20 yards and has connected on 14 passes of 20 yards or more, which ranks fourth in the NFL.

CINCINNATI

Paul Dehner, Jr. on Joey Franchise of the first-place Bengals:

For the first time in Thursday night’s defining moments, the mistake occurred that put a previously surgical, if hectic, final Bengals drive in jeopardy.

A holding call on Quinton Spain and short completion to Tyler Boyd put the Bengals at second-and-13 near midfield.

Standing in shotgun in empty formation, Joe Burrow looked up to see the Jacksonville defense crowding the line of scrimmage showing blitz. The play clock rolled down, the game clock neared one minute remaining.

Pause for a moment and consider the enormity of this situation.

The Bengals as an organization needed this night.

Here they were, given their opportunity to reconnect with their fans. The weather was perfect. The Ring of Honor was unveiled. The largest crowd in five years filled Paul Brown Stadium. The energy and optimism were at highs not seen in ages coming off Sunday’s win in Pittsburgh. Losing to the Jaguars would give back all of it. The national television audience was watching, waiting to tweet about the same old Bengals.

C.J. Uzomah was watching the man he calls “Joey Franchise” prove to be the reason they weren’t. What Burrow did next represents the latest chapter in an NFL legend that’s breathing a new brand into an afterthought franchise.

Burrow called a jailbreak screen to his tight end against the cover-zero blitz. How this ended up being the play of the game told all you need to know about the budding greatness of Burrow.

“You guys have heard me talking about having the playbook in the back of my head and seeing looks that I can take advantage of,” Burrow said. “That just comes with experience. They gave me a ‘zero’ look, and so all week I knew the defensive coordinator had a Baltimore background. They showed some ‘zero’ on film — I knew I’d have to be ready for it in a big spot.”

He was ready for it and dialed up a check in this pressure-packed moment the team had not repped since training camp. He did it even though Uzomah stood in the spot normally reserved for the fastest receiver on the team.

“I’ll be honest, I had to double-take that one,” Uzomah said, who was standing next to Tyler Boyd and Trenton Irwin near the far sideline. “That one was something I was like, ‘Hold up, what did you just call?’ TB was looking at me, too, like, ‘What did he just call?’”

He called the game-winning play. Uzomah cut inside, got a block from Boyd and Irwin then ran up the seam for 25 yards. Two plays later, Evan McPherson buried the game-winning field goal for the second time in four games. Day saved. Bengals are now 3-1 and thrust further into relevancy.

“Joey Franchise is just back there dealing dots out there knowing and understanding what the defense is doing,” Uzomah said. “He called that play up and just made something happen. He gave me a wink after I caught it and I was like, ‘This guy here, he’s reckless.’ He’s the smartest person out there at all times.”

The book on Burrow is his photographic memory and football bravado make for a cerebral weapon that will only be more dangerous the more plays are shoved into his mental Rolodex. After all, the last time the Bengals played in this stadium it was Burrow audibling on fourth-and-an-inch to a deep ball to Uzomah that sealed the win against Minnesota in overtime.

The scary element the rest of the league was watching Thursday night was shown off with the game on the line. He’s building up his arsenal. A year after being dismantled by zero blitzes and the Baltimore-style pressures, this time he was armed with the answers.

“We were going to run it, but it was just that C.J. was out wide,” Burrow said, “and I was trying to figure out if I wanted to get to the boundary or to the field. I had C.J. out there — that’s not exactly the personnel we usually throw those jailbreak screens to — but he really took advantage of the opportunity. I had those plays in the back of my head expecting ‘zero,’ and I just got to it and didn’t really think about it.”

After three weeks of leaning on Joe Mixon as the team got a feel for Burrow’s repaired knee, the line and offense as a whole, they morphed into a clearer version of what they hope to be Thursday night: Burrow’s Bengals. Partially by situation from an embarrassing, potentially dangerous egg laid in the first half and partially because as a team they were ready for this. So was Joey Franchise.

Burrow ended up 25 of 32 for 348 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. The 78 percent completion rate was a career-high along with 10.8 yards per attempt.

“He gets better and better as pressure comes on,” said Boyd, who finished with nine receptions for 118 yards. “As games go later and later he gets even better and better. We feed off that and we feel it.”

PITTSBURGH

Jonathan Jones on the decline of QB BEN ROETHLISBERGER and what might be next:

The end is coming quickly for Ben Roethlisberger, and we know the why.

His arm is cooked. His mobility is nil. His patchwork offensive line, put together in the draft and free agency with very little money to spend, can neither support an average run game nor sustain a pass block for longer than 2.5 seconds.

The “how” is going to be more difficult.

The way this ends in Pittsburgh will be difficult. I spent this week asking sources around the league why this didn’t end back in March, when the Steelers could have cut Roethlisberger and moved on.

“It’s hard to see good players get old,” one league source said.

“They have never moved on from their players at the right time and their contingency plan isn’t the answer,” another texted.

“Because they really believe he can still play,” one said. “He has way too much control over there.”

Roethlisberger has the Steelers at 1-2 heading into Green Bay this weekend. With Denver, Seattle and Cleveland following, it’s possible the Steelers don’t see another win until November.

It’s easy to pile on the Steelers right now and dance on Roethlisberger’s career grave. That’s not what I’m trying to do here. The signs were obvious last year that Roethlisberger didn’t have the physical traits capable of carrying Pittsburgh any longer, but he was their best option on a depth chart with Mason Rudolph and Joshua Dobbs.

The Steelers could have cut Roethlisberger back in March but instead agreed to a significant pay cut for him to return as the unquestioned starter. It was a mistake then and it’s even more clearly a mistake now.

Roethlisberger has lost six of his past eight starts and is averaging 6.1 yards per attempt in that span. The Steelers offense hasn’t scored points in the first quarter of a game dating to Week 11 of last season. And Pittsburgh is the only team in the NFL this season to not have first-quarter points when holding the time of possession advantage.

But what can they do? If there was too much fear in cutting Roethlisberger following a playoff season, there’s probably too much fear in benching him midseason. The Rooneys saw how that went over in the twilight of Eli Manning’s career within a proud Giants organization and won’t want to repeat that, even if it’s the right thing to do.

There’s no starting quarterback the Steelers could reasonably trade for right now. The 2022 draft class doesn’t exactly scream “Day 1 starter.” And with how rookie quarterbacks from a much better 2021 class are currently struggling, thinking the answer is in the first round of 2022 looks even more foolish right now.

Roethlisberger has played through endless injuries in his career, and if this season continues to spiral, the Steelers could place Big Ben on injured reserve with a real or conceived injury. It’d be the most gracious thing the team could do to its first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback, especially since appearances are important.

Not for nothing, but I couldn’t help but notice the smirk Pat McAfee gave earlier this week when he asked Aaron Rodgers for his thoughts on the Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh.

“I love Pittsburgh.. it’s a great blue collar tahn & Mike Tomlin is a fantastic coach who knows hot to lead & players love playing for” ~@AaronRodgers12 on the Packers matchup with the Steelers this Sunday#PatMcAfeeShowLIVE pic.twitter.com/mvSbBkpvKV

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 28, 2021

Rodgers waxed about the city, the people, the team’s defense and a head coach in Mike Tomlin whom “players love playing for.” Yes, the Packers are playing the Steelers, but you’d have to be blind not to see how intentional the question and answer were.

TENNESSEE

The Titans will take on the Jets Sunday without their two most decorated receivers.  Jordan Dajani of CBSSports.com:

The Tennessee Titans have won two straight games and are eyeing a third with the winless New York Jets next up on the docket. However, they will have to defeat New York without the services of their top two wide receivers.

Titans coach Mike Vrabel announced Friday that both A.J. Brown and Julio Jones will miss the team’s Week 4 game due to injury.

Earlier in the week, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reported that Jones was receiving treatment on a leg injury and that his status for Sunday was “up in the air.” He did not practice on Thursday or Friday. Brown was dealing with a hamstring injury that caused him to miss the majority of Tennessee’s Week 3 win over the Indianapolis Colts. He, too, did not practice all week. His status for Week 5 is in question as well, as Rapoport reported that he could miss 1-2 weeks.

Jones’ situation is an interesting one, as he played just 34 snaps in Week 3. He didn’t finish the contest despite it being a six-point game in the fourth quarter. Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said Jones being sidelined was not because he was being benched.

“This is not an issue with his performance,” Vrabel said, via the Titans’ official website. “This isn’t an issue with anything other than me making a decision and saying, ‘Hey man, let’s see if we can get through this and survive and win this football game.'”

Vrabel indicated Jones was dealing with some “tightness,” but he didn’t go into much detail about the specific ailment the star wideout is apparently dealing with.

With Jones and Brown out for Sunday’s game, expect Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Cameron Batson and Chester Rogers to step up at receiver. Westbrook-Ikhine was Tennessee’s leading receiver versus the Colts with four catches for 53 yards and a touchdown, while Rogers also caught a score against his former team.

BUFFALO

The Bills will be without S JORDAN PRYOR against the Texans.  Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com:

The Buffalo Bills will be down at least two starters for Sunday’s game against the visiting Houston Texans. Safety Jordan Poyer (ankle) and left guard Jon Feliciano (concussion) were ruled out Friday by coach Sean McDermott.

The coach declined to say who would be starting in their places.

“All those things we’re still working through here,” McDermott said when asked who is starting. “Jon got hurt during the week here. So still working through all that and same with the safety position with Jordan being out.”

Poyer was injured during the Bills’ 43-21 win over the Washington Football Team last week. The safety has not missed a start since the 2017 season. He had an interception in the win over Washington and has 12 tackles this year. Jaquan Johnson came in for him Poyer in Week 3 and is in line to start in his place. Josh Thomas and rookie Damar Hamlin are other options in the secondary.

Feliciano started the week limited during Wednesday’s practice with an illness. He was downgraded to not practicing Thursday with a concussion. Fourth-year guard Ike Boettger is likely to get the start at left guard. Boettger started seven games at left guard last year while Feliciano recovered from a torn pectoral muscle.

Nickel cornerback Taron Johnson (groin) and defensive end Efe Obada (ankle) are questionable for the game. Johnson did not practice Thursday or Friday, which is not a positive sign for his availability. Siran Neal and Cam Lewis, currently on the team’s practice squad, could provide depth if Johnson is unable to go.

THIS AND THAT

LOOKING AT THE OFFENSIVE LINES

Larry Holder is a great name for an offensive line expert – and at The Athletic, he takes a look at how the teams are doing in that area (he rates all 32, we’ll give you the top and bottom 5):

Who’s got your quarterback’s back best? And who’s getting your quarterback killed?

Even through a three-week NFL sample size, it’s mostly apparent that the team that protects the quarterback the best wins the most games.

I emphasize mostly.

I took a dive, with the massive assistance of TruMedia, into how every NFL team’s offensive line has performed in terms of pressures allowed and sacks on the quarterback. I’ve placed the teams in order of the best pressure percentage from 1-32. For me, it’s the fairest evaluation because not every team passes as much as another.

NO. 1   CLEVELAND BROWNS

PRESSURE% – 16.2

These results are one of the wilder anomalies of this study. The Browns are the best in keeping heat away from Baker Mayfield, and yet he’s one of the more sacked quarterbacks in the league. Here’s the more telling stat: Of the 190 players fitting the qualifications, Cleveland is the only team without an offensive lineman with five or more pressures allowed through three weeks.

Tackles Jack Conklin and Jedrick Wills have allowed four pressures each. Tackle Chris Hubbard skewed the numbers when filling in for Wills with a rough Week 1 outing (three pressures, one sack in 36 snaps). Guards Wyatt Teller (three pressure) and Joel Bitonio (one), along with center JC Tretter (one) round out a stout pass-protecting unit.

The Browns also rank 30th in pass snap percentage at 52.4 percent. But when they do pass the football, Mayfield typically isn’t pressured too often.

NO. 2      MINNESOTA VIKINGS

PRESSURE% – 18.3

There’s no wonder why right tackle Brian O’Neill landed a monster contract at the beginning of the season. He’s one of nine qualified linemen without surrendering a pressure so far. It’s even more impressive given he’s taken the most offensive snaps of those nine with 208 snaps.

Tackle Rashod Hill leads the team with eight pressures (tied for 31st overall), giving up three pressures each in Week 2 at Arizona and Week 3 vs. Seattle. Guard Ezra Cleveland gave up three of his five pressures in Week 1 at Cincinnati. Center Garrett Bradbury also struggled against the Bengals, allowing a single-game team-high four pressures. Guard Oli Udoh has been the most stable with four pressures on Kirk Cousins.

NO. 3       ARIZONA CARDINALS

PRESSURE%   – 18.4

Kyler Murray may be the NFL MVP candidate, but his offensive line better be in line for some gifts. Three of the Cardinals linemen are among the “zero pressure club.” OK, two (Max Garcia and Sean Harlow) of the three have only played 77 total snaps. But Murray wouldn’t be the betting favorite for the MVP without good pass protection.

Center Rodney Hudson has the truest member of the “zero pressure club” with no pressures on 114 passing snaps. Guard Justin Pugh only has one pressure, while tackles Kelvin Beachum and Justin Murray have two pressures. Tackle D.J. Humphries (six pressures, two sacks) and guard Josh Jones (five) are the only two Cardinals linemen among the top half of the qualified players.

NO. 4   SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

PRESSURE%   –  19.2

Guard Daniel Brunskill leads the Niners with seven pressures allowed. Brunskill found the Packers most problematic with four pressures and two QB hits in Week 3. Otherwise, Jimmy Garoppolo has been well protected.

Veteran Pro Bowlers tackle Trent Williams and center Alex Mack are playing up to their billings, with each allowing only two pressures. Guard Laken Tomlinson (three) and tackle Mike McGlinchey (three) have been solid pieces as well.

NO. 5         PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

PRESSURE%   –   19.7

The Eagles have been decimated with injuries across the offensive line with guards Brandon Brooks and Isaac Seumalo and tackle Jordan Mailata missing time. The mobility of Jalen Hurts probably helps these numbers. Regardless, the pressure have been down for the most part.

Rookie guard Landon Dickerson is why I have to use “for the most part.” He leads the Eagles with eight pressures allowed, four in each of his two games in Weeks 2 and 3. Center Jason Kelce ranks second on the Eagles with five pressures, while tackle Lane Johnson has surrendered four pressures. Brooks and Mailata have two pressures. Seumalo gave up one pressure before his Week 3 injury.

NO. 28    BALTIMORE RAVENS

PRESSURE%     31.4

I started heavily watching the offensive line pressures in Week 1. And what tackle Alejandro Villanueva is doing at right tackle is very troublesome.

Villanueva is tied for the league lead with 16 pressures allowed and ranks second with three sacks. His name shows up twice within the top three worst outings as he allowed eight pressures each against Las Vegas and Detroit. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley has only started one game, but he also gave up eight pressures on Lamar Jackson against the Raiders.

This covers up how center Bradley Bozeman and guard Ben Powers only have one pressure each.

NO. 29       MIAMI DOLPHINS

PRESSURE%      32.6

It’s no wonder Tua Tagovailoa has taken a beating. Three Miami linemen have double-digit pressure totals, and a fourth has nine pressures. I’d call that not swell pass protection.

In only two games, left tackle Austin Jackson allowed 13 pressures (tied for sixth overall). He allowed eight pressures in Week 2 against the Bills. Guard Robert Hunt and tackle Liam Eichenberg have each given up 10 pressures. Hunt had six pressures and a sack against the Raiders in Week 3. Tackle Jesse Davis seems like an afterthought with nine pressures and one sack.

Whew!

NO. 30         BUFFALO BILLS

PRESSURE%       35.3

Josh Allen must be a wizard.

The Bills are 2-1 even though guard Cody Ford produced the single worst game of the season with 11 pressures allowed in Buffalo’s loss to Washington. So it figures Ford is tied for the league lead with 16 pressures.

It’s come from several directions as well, with guard Jon Feliciano (11), tackle Daryl Williams (10) and tackle Dion Williams (nine) being far too porous for the Bills. Center Mitch Morse shouldn’t be praised for having only six pressures.

All of that, and Allen has only been sacked four times.

N0. 31        INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

PRESSURE%         36.2

How does an offensive line have guard Quenton Nelson, who’s allowed no pressures in 2021, and still fall so flat? I guess he can’t play everywhere.

The troubles have started with tackle Julie’n Davenport (14 pressures, tied for fourth overall) and guard Mark Glowinski (12, eighth overall). But tackle Eric Fisher is back to his old ways. The former No. 1 overall pick has only started two games, but he’s allowed nine pressures and three sacks, including two sacks in Week 3 against the Titans.

It’s not hard to see why the Colts are 0-3 with this offensive line.

NO. 32         NEW YORK JETS

PRESSURE%          40.2

So much heat is being placed on rookie quarterback Zach Wilson. His front five should be described as rough at best.

Losing left tackle Mekhi Becton doesn’t help. I get it. But that’s probably not the reason guard Greg Van Roten has allowed 14 pressures (tied for fourth overall) and two sacks in three games. The guard gave up six pressures each in Weeks 2 and 3. Guard Alijah Vera-Tucker hasn’t helped much with 11 pressures. And tackle Morgan Moses isn’t too far behind with eight pressures.