Pittsburgh Steelers News & Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/3/20

Here are Thursday’s minor moves:

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

New England Patriots

  • Claimed off waivers from Buccaneers: LB Jack Cichy

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers’ Bud Dupree Done For Year

Steelers edge rusher Bud Dupree has torn his ACL and will miss the remainder of the year, according to Mike Garafolo and Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com (Twitter link). The Steelers will make it all official today by placing Dupree on the injured reserve list. 

This is exactly what fans feared when Dupree hurt his left knee on a non-contact injury in the second quarter against the Ravens. The 27-year-old was a key part of the Steelers’ success this year, notching eight sacks, two forced fumbles, and 26 total stops. Without him, they’ll be leaning even more on T.J. Watt and they’ll need more production out of third-round rookie Alex Highsmith. With middle linebacker Devin Bush also done for the year, the Steelers will have to keep their streak alive without two key members of their front seven.

The Steelers kept Dupree from the open market with a one-year franchise tender for linebackers worth $15.8MM. It’s not clear whether Dupree succeeded in getting recategorized as a defensive end to make $17.8MM, but the end result is roughly the same. Dupree is on course for free agency, and the timing of his injury is not quite ideal.

Still, Dupree turned in a strong, complete season in 2019 with a career-high 11.5 sacks — 5.5 more than his previous single-season best. Dupree figures to be one of the most sought-after free agent edge options this year, second only to Yannick Ngakoue.

Latest On Ravens’ COVID-19 Situation

Despite being eligible to come off of the COVID-19 reserve list, Ravens running backs Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins will not play today against the Steelers, according to NBC’s Michelle Tafoya (Twitter link via Andrew Perloff of The Dan Patrick Show). The Ravens will be well-set with Gus Edwards in the backfield, but they’ll still be severely shorthanded for their afternoon tilt. 

At least 12 Ravens players have tested positive for the coronavirus, including star quarterback Lamar Jackson. Safety Geno Stone was among the latest to test positive for COVID-19 — a troubling development since he was not previously categorized as a “high-risk close contact.”

As Jonas Shaffer of the Baltimore Sun notes, the Ravens will be conducting point-of-care tests prior to kickoff in order to screen any possible new cases. And, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com notes (on Twitter), the NFLPA will be keeping a watchful eye on those results. The union is not opposed to the game being played today, but they may push back against the league if the spread continues.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/1/20

We’ll keep track of the NFL’s latest practice squad moves here:

Cleveland Browns

  • Released: CB Stephen Denmark

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Minnesota Vikings

  • Released: CB Marcus Sayles

New York Giants

New York Jets

  • Signed: RB Pete Guerriero

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Washington Football Team

Two More Ravens COVID-19 Positives Emerge

The Ravens are currently en route to Pittsburgh, but after an earlier report indicated the team did not see additional positive COVID-19 tests emerge Tuesday, it appears the team still has cases spawning.

One Ravens player and one staffer tested positive, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). The Ravens previously identified these two individuals as “potential positives,” Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.

These latest cases notwithstanding, the Ravens’ 2:40pm CT Wednesday game against the Steelers remains a go. All players and staffers will undergo another coronavirus test Wednesday. The Ravens have now had a positive COVID test for 10 straight days. More than 15 players still reside on Baltimore’s reserve/COVID list.

While the Ravens did bring four players off their virus list Tuesday, they left two assistant coaches — offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris and running backs coach Matt Weiss — in Baltimore prior to takeoff. The unnamed staffer who submitted a positive virus test, however, is not believed to be a coach, per Albert Breer of SI.com (on Twitter). It is not known which Raven player is the franchise’s latest positive test, though Breer notes the player is a backup. Neither the staffer nor the player obviously traveled with the team Tuesday night.

No NFL team placed any players on the reserve/COVID list Tuesday, marking an encouraging and somewhat surprising — considering recent events — development for the league. Wednesday’s game will commence without several key players — including Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews and James Conner — but the NFL has been dead-set against using one of its end-of-season contingency plans and postponed this game three times in order to keep it on the Week 12 docket.

Ingram, Dobbins May Return Vs. Steelers

The Ravens’ roster has been decimated by a COVID-19 outbreak, but help may be on the way. Running backs J.K. Dobbins and Mark Ingram will not fly with the team to Pittsburgh today, but the expectation is that they will fly tomorrow, in time to suit up for the Wednesday game against the Steelers (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). 

[RELATED: Ravens-Steelers Moved To Wednesday]

The league’s COVID protocols mandate a 10-day isolation period, and today marks Day 10. Had the game taken place on Thursday night as originally planned, or postponed to Sunday afternoon or Tuesday night (tonight), they would have been ineligible. The third — and, hopefully, final — postponement of the game has given them an opportunity to face the Steelers.

The Ravens running backs learned of their positive tests on Nov. 23. A number of Ravens players, including star quarterback Lamar Jackson, tested positive for the coronavirus in the days that followed. The Ravens are still working with a half-strength offense, but the presence of Ingram and Dobbins should help.

Before the positive, Dobbins registered 5.3 yards per carry for Baltimore. Ingram, meanwhile, is itching to get back on the field — he’s played in just eight games so far, thanks to an October injury.

No team placed a player on the reserve/COVID-19 list Tuesday, and Mark Maske of the Washington Post tweets the Ravens’ string of positive coronavirus tests stopped at eight. The thrice-rescheduled Ravens-Steelers rematch is a go for Wednesday afternoon. While this will not be finalized until the AFC North teams receive test results Wednesday, the Ravens are scheduled to fly to Pittsburgh at 7:15pm ET.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/30/20

We’ll post all the minor moves from what has been a very busy Monday here:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

 

Ravens – Steelers Game Moved To Wednesday

The Ravens/Steelers game is getting postponed, again. This time the game is being moved from Tuesday to Wednesday, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Ravens players were apparently pounding the table asking for the game to be pushed, as Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets they recently held a players-only meeting where they were “adamant” of getting in a full day of practice before the game. Considering they haven’t been able to practice at all since this has been going on, their concerns of health-risks from playing with no prep are certainly understandable.

This will be only the third NFL game in history on a Wednesday, and just the second since 1948. The last time was Dallas and Washington playing the opening week of 2012. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com had tweeted earlier that there were fears some Ravens players would refuse to play on Tuesday “which technically would be a wildcat strike.” Florio wrote that would cause a major rift between the NFL and NFLPA. Multiple reporters tweeted out that Baltimore would now have a walkthrough practice tonight at their facility.

It’s unclear if the move to Wednesday will solve all of those issues. Some players still have concerns even with playing on Wednesday, Mark Maske of The Washington Post tweets. He adds that there are “still some deliberations occurring.” The league is clearly very reluctant to cancel the game and trigger a Week 18.

This is likely just the first domino to fall, as Sunday’s Washington/Pittsburgh game will now likely have to be moved, potentially to Monday. A source soon confirmed to Albert Breer of SI.com (Twitter link) that the Washington game is indeed being moved to Monday, giving us a triple-header for MNF next week. It’s a crazy situation, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted as more info comes in.

NFL Cancels Ravens Practice

The NFL canceled the Ravens’ Monday morning practice, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Their game against the Steelers has been postponed twice and it’s far from certain that it’ll actually take place on Tuesday night.

The Ravens haven’t practiced in over a week due to their COVID-19 outbreak and they’re severely shorthanded. Sunday’s round of testing revealed multiple player and staff positives, marking eight straight days of unfortunate results. Wide receiver Willie Snead was among the latest, and star quarterback Lamar Jackson is out of the equation too. It’s worth noting that the Steelers have also had their fair share of COVID-19 issues. Over the weekend, the Steelers learned that they’ll be without special teams coordinator Danny Smith and quarterbacks coach Matt Canada.

Meanwhile, the Ravens players who are available for the game may have a tough time getting to the game. As of this writing, forecasts indicate that Pittsburgh could get up to six inches of snow. A third postponement of the game may prompt the NFL to reschedule the game all the way to a newly created “Week 18” or cancel it entirely.

Steelers Notes: Conner, Coaches

Florio writes that it’s believed the league will opine these positives are a result of the “tail end” of the outbreak, and that Tuesday’s game against the Steelers is still on for now. Meanwhile the Ravens are planning on convening at their facility tonight in order to condition and then have a walkthrough tomorrow, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports tweets. He notes that all work will be done on outdoor fields and players won’t be allowed inside the locker room.

  • While the Ravens have obviously had it worse, the Steelers have also had their fair share of COVID-19 issues as they approach Tuesday night. Pittsburgh will be without both special teams coordinator Danny Smith and quarterbacks coach Matt Canada due to illnesses, Brooke Pryor of ESPN tweets. Canada plays a pretty large role in the offensive game-planning, so that’s a significant loss.
  • Pivoting away from COVID news for a moment, the Steelers have some big question marks to address this offseason. One of those is what to do with running back James Conner, who is set to be a free agent. His production has declined since his breakout 2018 campaign, and he’s also dealt with frequent nagging injuries. With those issues, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic writes that he “can’t imagine” Conner getting brought back on anything more than a one-year, prove-it deal. Kaboly thinks the team is grooming Benny Snell to potentially take over for Conner. The Pittsburgh product recently tested positive for COVID-19 himself, which obviously won’t help with his next contract. He’s shown flashes of being a potential featured back, and it’ll be very interesting to see what the market for him looks like. It’s very possible he’s not back with the Steelers in 2021.