First Call: Ex-Steeler drafts Martavis Bryant in XFL; Penguins to face another former teammate in goal; Ja'Marr Chase update

Thursday’s “First Call” features the latest attempt to reignite the football career of former Steelers project Martavis Bryant.

Antonio Brown is back performing in Pittsburgh. Ja’Marr Chase may not be back against the Steelers. But next week is a possibility. The Penguins aren’t done facing old teammates in goal. And the Saints aren’t done with Andy Dalton.

Even if they may want to be.

Taking Martavis

Martavis Bryant’s career in Pittsburgh may have washed out. But the former Steelers wide receiver can now call himself a first-round draft pick.

In the XFL.

Bryant was selected as the fifth overall player in the XFL draft Wednesday. He is going to the Vegas Vipers.

Vegas just got some more heat. The @XFLVipers select Martavis Bryant in the first round of the #XFLDraft.

Presented by @ZipRecruiter. pic.twitter.com/d0d7L1HqnV

— XFL (@XFL2023) November 16, 2022

The XFL draft is a little unorthodox. Players are drafted by position groups. Bryant was part of the “skill position” group. So that narrows the talent pool a bit and is perhaps why Bryant went as early as he did.

But a first-round pick on Bryant (31 years old) is eye-opening, regardless. Bryant flashed gobs of talent coming out of Clemson as a fourth-rounder in 2014. He scored eight times as a rookie, including a 94-yarder in Cincinnati.

However, league and team discipline issues derailed Bryant’s career in Pittsburgh. So he was traded to the Raiders before the 2017 season. Then he went to the Canadian Football League with Toronto and Edmonton. He even tried the streaming-service-platformed Fan Control Football League.

But that track record wasn’t enough to scare off his new head coach, Steelers legend Rod Woodson. The NFL Hall of Famer must have a thing for ex-Steelers wide receivers. Because his team also drafted Matthew Sexton and Saaed Blacknall.

Other recent former Steelers selected by XFL teams include defensive back Antoine Brooks (Seattle), RB Kalen Ballage (San Antonio), DB Shakur Brown (Austin) and LB Tuzar Skipper (Seattle).

After just five weeks of play in its inaugural 2020 season, the league had to shut down due to the covid-19 pandemic. It filed for bankruptcy on April 13. In August 2020, actor Dwayne Johnson led a consortium to purchase the league for $15 million. It is supposed to reboot play in February 2023.

Another Ex-Steelers great, Hines Ward, is coaching the San Antonio Brahmas.

Related

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• Steelers, Kenny Pickett looking for improvement inside red zone
• New documentary shows ex-Steelers player Carlton Haselrig's battle with football-related brain injuries

Chasing the calendar

The Steelers are unlikely to deal with Cincinnati Bengals star receiver Ja’Marr Chase. He was seen around the team facility on crutches this week. The reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year is dealing with a hip injury.

But according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler, a return for Chase next week isn’t out of the question.

“The Bengals are hopeful Ja’Marr Chase, who has been recovering from a hip injury, can return for Week 12 against the Tennessee Titans,” Fowler said. “Chase continues to rehab, so there’s no definitive plan there yet, but the people I’ve talked to have circled that game as a potential relaunch for Chase.”

The initial timeline called for four to six weeks away from action for Chase. He has missed two games already, and the Bengals are now coming off of their bye against the Steelers. So that puts the Titans game next week in play. If it’s six weeks, he’s looking at potentially missing the game against the Titans and potentially the week after against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Dancing with Dalton

The team the Steelers beat on Sunday won’t be making any changes at quarterback.

According to Mike Triplett of New Orleans.Football, Andy Dalton will remain as the team’s signal caller despite a lousy performance against the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium during a 20-10 defeat.

Dennis Allen said Jameis Winston probably won't be 100% healthy this season -- even though he is healthy enough to serve as New Orleans' No. 2 QB and participate fully in practice.

Said a lot of factors go into QB decision, and they decided to stick with Dalton for now.

— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) November 16, 2022

“We’re going to go with Andy. We discussed it as a staff. I got an opportunity to talk to both quarterbacks, and I feel like right now, Andy is the direction that we want to go,” Allen said Wednesday via ESPN.com.

New Orleans’ passing game has been inept the last two weeks, totaling just 384 yards in losses to the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. The Saints have lost four of their last five. Dalton has been the starter since Week 4.

The 3-7 Saints host the 3-6 Rams on Sunday.

Missing the ‘Marc’

According to Mike Russo of The Athletic, former Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is going on injured reserve. That means he will have to miss at least a week. That span includes Thursday’s game against the Penguins.

Fleury is now 37 years old. He holds a 6-4-1 record, a 2.80 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage this season.

Filip Gustavsson, another former Penguin, will be in net against the Pens Thursday. Zane McIntyre was recalled from the AHL.

"I trust my teammates up there"

Filip Gustavsson on taking the net tomorrow. #mnwild pic.twitter.com/HbK5la4QVa

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 16, 2022

Gustavsson is 1-3-1 with a 2.81 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. The Swedish netminder split two decisions against the Pens in 2021. The 24-year-old was the 55th overall selection in the 2016 draft.

The Penguins just got finished losing 5-2 to former netminder Matt Murray on Tuesday when the Toronto Maple Leafs were in town.

A.B. on key?

Antonio Brown is continuing with his music career. And Pittsburgh will be blessed to be a part of that Wednesday night.

The volatile wide receiver is going to be hosting and performing at Enclave the evening before Thanksgiving.

Brown performed at Enclave back in June as well. His latest off-field PR nightmare was standing by Kanye West in the wake of his antisemitic comments.

The former Steelers All-Pro was appointed president of the Donda Sports agency in February after he was released from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021.