Behind the Steel Curtain
It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time for a weekly Steelers links roundup at BTSC. But first, let’s take a look around the AFC North:
Now, onto some Steelers news and discussion:
(From Steelers Now’s Chris Ward): On the heels of the Pittsburgh Steelers releasing veteran punter Cameron Johnston, Adam Schefter of ESPN confirmed that Corliss Waitman has won the punter job. He also noted that the New Orleans Saints inquired about trading for him before the Steelers made the final decision to stick with him.
The Steelers seemed to have interest in trading their extra specialists ahead of the cutdown deadline, but it appears it was Waitman, not Cameron Johnston, who was drawing trade interest. If anything, the team’s refusal to trade the punter shows that they are very confident in their decision regarding the winner of the summer’s position battle.
(From NFL.com’s Kevin Patra): Rodgers joined Adam Schein of Mad Dog Sports Radio on Monday and was asked how he’ll feel facing New York off the bat.
“Probably nowhere near where it might be made out,” Rodgers said. “A lot has changed over there, coaching staff-wise, player-wise. Obviously, I have friendships over there, but it’s one game out of 17, and at 5 o’clock Eastern on that Sunday, it’s only going to be on to the next game. So that’s just the way it is.”
It’s a storyline-heavy Week 1 for the Steelers and Jets with both Aaron Rodgers and Justin Fields taking on their former teams. Rodgers, for his part, seems to be downplaying any sort of revenge game narrative. He’s taken a similar approach when discussing the Steelers’ late October matchup with his other former team, the Green Bay Packers.
(From Pro Football Talk’s Charean Williams): The Steelers will place quarterback Will Howard on injured reserve with a designation to return, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
After surprisingly keeping four quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster, it makes sense that the Steelers will make a follow-up move shortly. Per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac, the team plans to keep Skylar Thompson around, at least to start the season, by moving Will Howard to designated-to-return injured reserve.
(From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo): Since then, Miller has had a hard time recreating that season from five years ago. In the past four seasons combined — with the Buccaneers, Falcons and Steelers — he has just 453 receiving yards and has had to grind to stay in the NFL. Last...
