Sports Al Dente

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin believes wide receiver George Pickens is not becoming a problem for the team, even though Pickens has shown signs of frustration.

Pickens, who is the team’s leader in receptions and yards, played a career-low 34 snaps during the recent 20-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. He caught three passes for only 26 yards, which is his lowest this season, and spent a lot of time watching from the sidelines.

Tomlin explained that the reduction in Pickens’ playing time is a strategy called load management. He said, “Most players, particularly in today’s game that have specialized skill sets, they play positions like receiver (and) they don’t play every down.

They don’t play every down because you need them in significant moments. You need them at the back half of the season. You need them in the second half of football games and those weighty downs.”

However, Pickens didn’t seem to take this decision well. He wore eye black that said “always (expletive) open” during the game and appeared to sit alone for long periods while his teammates talked to coaches.

After one play where quarterback Justin Fields threw a pass over him, Pickens slammed his helmet in frustration. At the end of the game, after a failed series of laterals, he grabbed the facemask of Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis, who later called Pickens “weak.”

Pickens avoided talking to reporters after the game and did the same on Monday, choosing to go to the team’s equipment room instead of facing the media.

This isn’t the first time Pickens has faced criticism for his effort. Last season, he was called out for not blocking during a play when a teammate had a long run, which he said was due to trying to avoid injury.

Tomlin has consistently supported Pickens publicly, stating in September that he “absolutely” believes Pickens will respond better to challenges on and off the field as he enters his third season.

When asked on Tuesday if he still feels the same way after discussing some of Pickens’ recent mistakes, Tomlin said, “In those instances, no, but largely it’s been an improvement in those areas, certainly.”

More importantly, Tomlin emphasized that he doesn’t want to make any issues he has with a player public.

He said, “This business between he and I, in terms of his growth and development as a player and as a man, I just don’t think it aids that growth and development to address it in open settings such as this.”

Tomlin also mentioned that he had informed Pickens about the decision to reduce his playing time before the game against Dallas, and Pickens did not have a problem with it.

The Steelers need Pickens to be focused and on the field for a balanced offense.

The performance of the receivers behind him, including Van Jefferson and Scotty Miller, has been quite limited. Pickens has 23 receptions through five games, which is more than the total of Jefferson, Miller, and Calvin Austin III combined (18).

It didn’t help that quarterback Justin Fields had a tough game against Dallas, completing only 55% of his passes (15 out of 27), although he did throw two touchdowns in the second half, including one to tight end Pat Freiermuth that put the Steelers ahead with less than five minutes left.

Fields is expected to make his sixth straight start on Sunday against Las Vegas (2-3). Russell Wilson is anticipated to fully participate in practice on Wednesday for the first time since aggravating a calf injury before the season opener in Atlanta. Fields will practice with the starters on Wednesday, while Wilson will work with the backups.

The New England Patriots are set to give first-round draft pick Drake Maye his first professional start as they look to break a four-game losing streak with veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett. A source familiar with the decision shared this information with The Associated Press on Tuesday, though the team has not officially announced it. NFL Network was the first to report Maye’s promotion.

Maye previously played at the end of a Week 3 loss to the New York Jets, completing 4 of 8 passes for 22 yards. In contrast, Brissett has thrown 79 passes for 135 yards with two touchdowns and one interception over five starts this season, never exceeding 150 net yards in a game.

The Patriots will face the Houston Texans at home on Sunday. There was no media availability on Tuesday, and a team spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

Since Tom Brady’s departure in 2020, the Patriots have struggled to find a reliable quarterback. They have tried veteran players like Cam Newton and drafted Mac Jones but have only appeared in one playoff game, which they lost.

After selecting Jones 15th overall in the 2021 draft and quickly starting him, the team decided to draft Maye third overall. Despite ongoing struggles in many areas, including the offensive line, coach Jerod Mayo had initially opted to stick with Brissett instead of putting Maye in a tough situation.

However, Mayo’s comments changed on Monday when he stated, “We have to look at every single unit and every single player and figure out how we use this roster to go out there and win games.”

The Minnesota Vikings are treating running back Aaron Jones’ right hip injury as a week-to-week issue, coach Kevin O’Connell said on Tuesday.

Jones got hurt in the first quarter of the game on Sunday in London against the New York Jets and did not return. The Vikings (5-0), who are the only undefeated team left in the NFC, have started their bye week and will not play again until October 20 against Detroit.

“All the early information that we’ve got so far, it looks like we’ve avoided a long-term injury,” O’Connell said. He hopes Jones can start to practice again next week after getting treatment during the bye week, but it’s still unclear if he will be ready for the game against the Lions in Week 7.

After that, the Vikings will have a quick turnaround for an October 24 game against the Los Angeles Rams. Jones has gained 350 rushing yards and 167 receiving yards in his first five games with Minnesota, ranking eighth in the NFL for total yards from scrimmage.

Ty Chandler stepped up as the main running back while Jones is out.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in Ty, really going back to last year when he really emerged for us like he did in the second half of last season,” O’Connell said.

Woody Johnson had an important message for Haason Reddick on the day the owner of the New York Jets made the surprising choice to fire his head coach.

Johnson stressed that it was time for the pass rusher to end his holdout.

“Haason, get in your car, drive down (Interstate) 95 and come to the New York Jets,” Johnson said at the end of a conference call on Tuesday about the firing of Robert Saleh. “We can meet you and give you an escort right into the building and you’ll fit right in. And you’re going to love it here and you’re going to feel welcome and you’re going to accomplish great things with us.”

Johnson fired Saleh just five games into the Jets’ 2-3 start. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will take over as the interim coach for the rest of the season.

Reddick, who is from Camden, New Jersey, was brought in from Philadelphia during the offseason to improve New York’s pass rush. However, since officially joining the team on April 1, Reddick has not participated due to a contract dispute.

The 30-year-old edge rusher asked to be traded on August 12, but general manager Joe Douglas quickly denied that request, stating that the team would not accommodate him. Reddick has yet to play this season, and it is unclear when, or if, his contract issue will be resolved.

“This is something I’ve never seen before,” Johnson said, who has been the Jets’ owner since 2000. “I don’t think any of us have seen anything like this. So I think you have to be part psychologist and part some other ‘gist’ to try to figure out what is actually going on.”

Reddick is in the final year of a three-year, $45 million contract, which includes a non-guaranteed base pay of $14.25 million this season. He is losing about $800,000 for each game he does not play, in addition to fines for his holdout that have surpassed $5 million, including over $2 million for missing all of training camp.

The New Orleans Saints, who were once doing well, are now struggling and uncertain about when quarterback Derek Carr will return after he hurt his oblique during the team’s third consecutive loss.

Carr left Monday night’s game against Kansas City due to his injury, and coach Dennis Allen did not give any updates on his health when he spoke with reporters on Tuesday after reviewing the game footage.

Carr promised to do everything he could to be ready for this Sunday, but the NFL Network has reported that he is likely to miss several games.

Without Carr, the Saints might start either Jake Haener, a fourth-round draft pick from Fresno State, or rookie Spencer Rattler, a fifth-round pick from South Carolina. Rattler has not yet played in a regular-season game.

Haener has seen some playing time in previous games and came in for Carr late in the fourth quarter against Kansas City, completing 2 of 7 passes for 17 yards. Allen mentioned that Haener “did fine” under the circumstances.

“He was under duress a lot,” Allen said. “It got to that point in the game where they were really going after the pass rush. I don’t think there were a lot of opportunities for him.”

Although the 26-13 score in Kansas City was New Orleans’ first loss by more than three points this season, it highlighted how dominant the defending champion Chiefs were, despite some key injuries on their side.

The Saints only had the ball for about one-third of the game (20:04), gained less than half the total yards (460 to 220), and had only half as many first downs (14) compared to the Chiefs (28).

“Obviously we played a good football team in a tough environment and we didn’t do well,” Allen said. “That just tells us we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

While Allen noted that everyone on the team was frustrated by their “lack of ability to really get anything going offensively,” he did not hint at any major changes in personnel for Week 6.

The coaching staff needs to think about: “What’s our part in that?” Allen said. “How can we put our guys in better positions to succeed?”

One thing Allen wants to prevent is a locker room filled with unhappy players who start blaming each other.

“We’ve just got to stick together as a group,” Allen said. “The only way you can turn things around is to be united.”

Duece Jones-Drew hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps and reach the NFL one day.

On Tuesday, the 16-year-old son of former Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew accomplished one of his dad’s goals by playing in London.

In fact, Duece’s team won the game, doing even better than Maurice did when he played at Wembley Stadium in 2013 and 2014.

“Definitely going to have a little trash talk at the house about that,” said Duece, a sophomore running back at De La Salle High School in Concord, California, after his team beat the NFL Academy 31-9.

The game took place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium under the lights. “Twelve-hour flight that we had to get here, it all paid off in the end,” Duece said.

Maurice Jones-Drew played twice in London. In 2013, the Jaguars lost 42-10 to the San Francisco 49ers. That was the last of his eight seasons with Jacksonville.

His final season was in 2014 with the Oakland Raiders, who lost to the Miami Dolphins 38-14 in London. Both games were held at Wembley.

“It’s always special when you are able to share these experiences with your kids,” said Jones-Drew, who is an assistant coach for De La Salle. “He’s happy, he had a good time. Got some great carries, ran hard.”

He doesn’t expect much trash talking: “My older one is very humble and modest.”

Jones-Drew retired after the 2014 season and started working as a commentator. He holds Jacksonville’s record for most rushing yards in a single season (1,606 in 2011).

Launched in 2019, the NFL Academy’s team includes teenagers from all over Europe and some from Africa. Twenty alumni are currently playing at Division I schools, including Tennessee defensive lineman Emmanuel Okoye and Oklahoma offensive tackle Daniel Akinkunmi.

The academy has been adding U.S. teams to its schedule to give their players a chance to compete at a higher level. Both teams are connected to Nike, which helped set up the game.

“They’re sound. They’re physical. Some of the hits were big hits,” Jones-Drew said.

Getting into the red zone hasn’t been an issue for the San Francisco 49ers early this season, as they have crossed the opponent’s 20-yard line more than all but one team in the NFL.

However, turning those drives into touchdowns has been a significant problem. This is a big change from last season when the 49ers were the most efficient team in the league at scoring touchdowns in the red zone.

The inability to score from close range was a key factor in San Francisco’s recent loss, as they managed only one touchdown on six trips inside the 20 in a 24-23 defeat to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

“We’ve had some opportunities,” quarterback Brock Purdy said Tuesday. “I think that’s an area for me to be better for sure. Trust the plays, trust the concepts, trust my guys, and being willing to go down there and rip it. …

The windows get tighter and the timing of it is quicker and faster. For me, it’s about getting back into a rhythm down there and giving my guys a chance.”

Purdy had a noticeable miss last week against Arizona when he threw late and slightly off-target to tight end George Kittle, turning what could have been an easy touchdown into a play that went out of bounds at the 2-yard line. An incomplete pass on the next play resulted in a short field goal.

But the issues run deeper than just that.

The 49ers (2-3) rank among the bottom four in the NFL, converting only 40.9% of red zone drives into touchdowns, down from an impressive 67.2% last year. A significant change this season has been the absence of Christian McCaffrey, the reigning AP Offensive Player of the Year, who had tied for the league lead with 18 of San Francisco’s 45 red zone touchdowns last season.

Coach Kyle Shanahan mentioned that it’s difficult to pinpoint a single reason for the struggles.

“I think we need to be much more effective running it,” he said. “When you run the ball twice, you’d like to get in and not just put one pressure third down on the pass game.

And when you do throw it more, then you’ve got to make sure you come through with those, especially not having a negative play with those. Running the ball better takes a lot of pressure off, also gives some better passing looks. We’ve tried both and haven’t been good enough with both of those. So it’s all aspects of offense.”

Jeff Ulbrich was in the middle of creating the game plan for the New York Jets’ defense when he received shocking news that surprised him and the entire NFL.

Robert Saleh was out as the head coach, and Ulbrich was stepping in for the rest of the season.

“And then four hours later, I’m doing a press conference here with you guys as the new interim coach of the New York Jets,” Ulbrich said during a video call with reporters on Tuesday.

Owner Woody Johnson made the unexpected choice to fire Saleh just five games into his fourth season. Johnson was unhappy with how the team was performing after it fell to a 2-3 record following a 23-17 loss to Minnesota in London on Sunday.

The owner sees these Jets as “one of the most talented teams that has ever been assembled” in the franchise’s history. However, Johnson wasn’t convinced that Saleh could lead the Jets to the playoffs, a place they haven’t reached in 13 seasons, or push for a Super Bowl run.

So, he turned to the 47-year-old Ulbrich, a former NFL linebacker and longtime assistant coach whom Johnson has closely observed during his four years with the team.

“When he talks, they listen to him in a way that probably represents the fact that he did play the sport at linebacker for 10 years, which is pretty unique,” Johnson said. “So he brings that knowledge and the respect.”

Ulbrich has moved from leading one of the NFL’s top defenses to trying to turn around a frustrated franchise.

“It has been a whirlwind,” Ulbrich admitted. “It has been four hours of craziness.” Things are about to get even busier for him.

The Jets began last season with Super Bowl hopes, but those hopes faded when Aaron Rodgers tore his left Achilles tendon just four plays into his first game with the team.

A healthy and motivated Rodgers welcomed those high expectations again this season. But with the four-time NFL MVP turning 41 in December, Johnson and the Jets are aware that their chance to win is limited.

With New York on a two-game losing streak and facing the AFC East rival Buffalo Bills next Monday night, the owner made the decision to fire his head coach during the season—something he hadn’t done since taking over the team in 2000.

“The change that we made today — that I made,” Johnson said, “I believe will bring new energy and positivity and will lead to more wins, starting now.”

However, Ulbrich has some tough history to deal with. Only twice has an NFL interim coach led a team to the playoffs: the 2021 Raiders with Rich Bisaccia and the 1961 Oilers with Wally Lemm.

Kirk Cousins had a standout moment in his career last Thursday night when he passed for 509 yards, ending with a game-winning touchdown pass in overtime during Atlanta’s 36-30 victory over Tampa Bay.

However, he still could not break one of the NFL’s longest-standing records: Norm Van Brocklin’s 554-yard game from 1951, which remains the record for single-game passing yards, even as offensive production has increased in recent years.

While many single-game records for rushing yards, receiving yards, touchdown passes, runs, catches, field goals, interceptions, and other important stats have been set or matched recently, Van Brocklin’s record still stands.

This record was unexpected because Van Brocklin was chosen to start for the Los Angeles Rams just days before the game due to an injury to Bob Waterfield.

At that time, he had never thrown for 300 yards in a game when he faced a New York Yanks team that was finishing its last season in the NFL.

Van Brocklin broke Johnny Lujack’s 1949 record of 468 yards for the Bears, completing 27 passes—15 fewer than Cousins in his 500-yard game—with nine passes going to Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch for 173 yards.

Van Brocklin only had five other games with at least 300 yards passing in his Hall of Fame career, and just four other players achieved that mark in 1951, when teams averaged 183.9 passing yards per game. In the last ten years, there have been six seasons where teams averaged over 250 passing yards per game, but no one has surpassed Van Brocklin’s record.

The closest anyone has come to it since 1951 was Matt Schaub, who threw for 527 yards while playing for Houston against Jacksonville on November 18, 2012.