First Call: Injury news for star WRs on Steelers’ schedule; ups and downs for ex-Steelers with Bears, Cardinals
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Monday’s “First Call” has injury news for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ next two opponents, the Cleveland Browns on Monday night and the Las Vegas Raiders next Sunday night.
More ups and downs for Chase Claypool in Chicago and a pair of former Steelers in Arizona.
Plus, Pitt is a home underdog against North Carolina Saturday.
Keeping up with Cooper
The Cleveland Browns’ top receiver, Amari Cooper, is dealing with a groin injury. He’s unlikely to play against the Steelers on Monday night. That’s according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Cooper has at least made the trip to Pittsburgh. But he is still considered questionable.
Updated with Amari Cooper making the bus trip to Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon, but he's still questionable w/his groin injury. Good thing for him and the #Browns: it's minor and not a long-term concern; Juan Thornhill expect to play: Insider https://t.co/1J8yB0KTNc
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) September 17, 2023
If Cooper doesn’t play, rookie Cedric Tillman, Marquise Goodwin and David Bell are all expected to see increased action. Cooper had three catches for 37 yards in the Browns’ Week 1 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Last year, Cooper led the Browns in catches (78), targets (132), yards (1,160), first downs (61) and touchdowns (9). In Game 1 against the Steelers last year, Cooper had seven catches for 101 yards and a touchdown during a Browns victory. In the second game, the Steelers held him to two catches for 51 yards and no touchdowns en route to a win over Cleveland in the 2022 season finale.
Looking at Las Vegas
Regardless of what happens to the Steelers on Monday night, they’ll be facing a team in need of a rebound next Sunday night.
The Steelers are heading to Las Vegas to face the 1-1 Raiders. They just got dumped 38-10 in Buffalo on Sunday. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was intercepted twice.
That's @MatthewMilanoo's ball!
: @CBS | @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/INMzgiL7xf
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) September 17, 2023
TB INT
: @CBS | @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/H8xM1EKUGf
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) September 17, 2023
Meanwhile, on defense, the Raiders allowed 450 yards.
Vegas also suffered a significant injury. Star wide receiver Davante Adams left the game to be evaluated for a concussion after being hit on a play that drew an unnecessary roughness flag. So his status will be up in the air heading into Sunday night. The hit occurred late in the game with the Raiders losing by four touchdowns. Adams had totaled six catches for 84 yards and a touchdown before being leaving the game.
Fellow receiver Jakobi Meyers already missed the Bills game with a concussion of his own. Defensive tackle Bilal Nichols, safety Marcus Epps and cornerback Jakorian Bennett were also injured during the defeat.
More sports
• Tim Benz: If Week 1 wasn’t the real Steelers, then they better show up against Browns
• Madden Monday: Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi is ‘as much at fault as anybody’ for Phil Jurkovec’s problems
• Analysis: West Virginia defense knew Pitt QB Phil Jurkovec ‘wasn’t that good at his job’
Slipping away
A pair of former Steelers played a hand in nearly pulling an upset in the desert.
James Conner and Josh Dobbs helped the underdog Arizona Cardinals build a 20-0 first half lead over the New York Giants. Conner ended the day with 106 yards and a touchdown.
James Conner is having a day
: #NYGvsAZ on FOX
: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/FhXtx7w3wW pic.twitter.com/U9HowuF54B— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2023
Dobbs threw for 228 yards on 21 of 31 passing. He also had two touchdowns, one through the air and one on the ground.
WOW. Josh Dobbs FIGHTS his way into the end zone
: #NYGvsAZ on FOX
: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/FhXtx7w3wW pic.twitter.com/za8tAEeAiU— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2023
But the Giants stormed back and won 31-28. One negative for New York, Saquon Barkley got hurt. The former Penn State running back is reportedly dealing with a right ankle injury.
Saquon Barkley had an x-ray on his right ankle after the game. He limped around the locker room and it was a bit swollen. Clearly he had some pain and discomfort.
This is definitely a concern for the Giants and Barkley moving forward, especially with a short turnaround this week…
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) September 18, 2023
The Giants have the Thursday night game against the San Francisco 49ers next week.
More Claypool ups and downs
Former Steeler Chase Claypool actually did something positive for the Chicago Bears. The wide receiver finally scored his first touchdown for the franchise after being shipped to Chicago last year in a mid-season trade from Pittsburgh.
Chase Claypool TD!
: #CHIvsTB on FOX⁰: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/FhXtx7w3wW pic.twitter.com/503Qou3KbV
— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2023
He ended the day with three catches and 36 yards, after having just 14 catches following his arrival in the Windy City.
However, Claypool was also targeted on passes that ended up as interceptions twice during the afternoon. Plus, on Fox before the game, Jay Glazer reported the Bears have informed Claypool that if his effort doesn’t improve he could be benched or traded again. Glazer added that Claypool apologized to teammates, coaches and the front office for his perceived lazy play against the Packers in Week 1.
The Bears traded what ended up becoming the 32nd overall pick to the Steelers for Claypool last season.
Acrisure underdogs
It appears the odds makers are unimpressed with the Pitt Panthers after their 1-2 start.
According to BetRivers, the Panthers are seven-point underdogs at home against the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday night. UNC is coming in at 3-0. They are ranked 17th in the country and are averaging 34 points per game on offense.
Meanwhile, after beating Pitt in the Backyard Brawl on Saturday, the West Virginia Mountaineers are 5½ point underdogs at home against Texas Tech.
Seventh-ranked Penn State is a 14-point favorite at home against No. 24 Iowa.