First call: Kevin Greene praises TJ Watt in the last interview, more concerns about coronavirus for the Browns

First call: Kevin Greene praises TJ Watt in the last interview, more concerns about coronavirus for the Browns

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Interview clips recently released with former Steelers major Kevin Greene reveal his thoughts on current star TJ Watt.

The Cleveland Browns have more problems with the coronavirus. The line of betting on your game against the Steelers has changed dramatically. And an AFC contender may have a significant injury problem before the playoffs.

All of this in our final “First Call” of 2020.

Significant endorsement

Many in the NFL are still dealing with the death of former Steelers star Kevin Greene.

This includes ex-kicker Morten Andersen. It now hosts a podcast for the VegasInsider Podcast Network. And he made a painful dedication to Greene, who died at age 58 on December 21.

About 10 days earlier, Andersen had conducted an interview with Greene. He posted some of these clips as part of a tribute to his friend and colleague nominated in the Hall of Fame. One of the highlights of the conversation was Greene’s assessment of the current Steelers outside of linebacker TJ Watt.

Greene endorsed Watt as the “NFL Defensive Player of the Year”, calling him “the most complete linebacker in the NFL”.

Greene praised Watt for his field approach to “hunting people with a hunter’s heart.” He also talked about his days as a player in Pittsburgh and the chance he had to face so many Hall of Fame quarterbacks.

You can get the full interview here. You can also access our podcast page and listen to the 2016 interview I conducted with Greene after he was elected to the Professional Football Hall of Fame.

Cleveland Coronavirus

The Cleveland Browns host the Steelers on Sunday afternoon at the end of the regular season.

And they may be doing it without manpower. Again.

Cleveland lost to the New York Jets last Sunday in part because most of its wide receivers were absent thanks to covid-19 contact tracking.

Their hope is that these players will return on Sunday. But now the news from Ohio is that a few other players are meeting on the 19 list, including safety holder Andrew Sendejo and newcomer tight end Harrison Bryant.

Via BrownsWire, “If Sendejo and Bryant were just close contacts, they would still be able to play in Week 17 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, as long as the test was negative on five consecutive days for covid-19.”

Recipients Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones and KhaDarel Hodge are expected to return on Thursday. This is if they continue with the negative test. The same can be said of linebacker Jacob Phillips.

Did you follow our advice?

As predicted here in “First Call,” the Steelers-Browns game was heavily influenced by Mike Tomlin’s statement of the lineup plans.

Cleveland opened with 7 favorite points, based on the assumption that the Steelers can rest some regular players before entering the game, as this may only affect the Steelers’ sowing only slightly. Meanwhile, the Browns may need victory to qualify for the AFC playoffs.

When Steelers coach Mike Tomlin confirmed these suspicions, the line advanced to 10 points in favor of the Browns, according to OddsShark. And that is just with the news that Ben Roethlisberger will be rested.

Others can follow. If you’re betting on the Browns, I hope it started earlier.

Beasley and the Bills

Buffalo Bills will have to make similar decisions about who to sit and who to play.

And they will do so in circumstances similar to the Steelers. Like Pittsburgh, they will fall in the second or third seed of the playoff key. Like the Steelers, they face a division rival at the Miami Dolphins. Like the Steelers, the division’s rival is trying to qualify for the playoffs.

But a decision is probably out of Buffalo’s hands. Wide receiver Cole Beasley suffered a leg injury in the team’s victory over the New England Patriots on Monday night. And it is listed as “week by week”.

Then we’ll see if Beasley will be available next week in the postseason, let alone on Sunday against Miami.

Back to the ice

Thanks to coronavirus-related scheduling problems, the men’s hockey team Robert Morris Colonials returned to action on Tuesday afternoon for the first time since December 5.

They faced Bowling Green in seventh place on the road. And junior center Grant Hebert put the Colonies on the board first with a second-period goal.

But the Falcons struggled with two goals in the third period, including one from Pittsburgh native Connor Ford to win 2-1.

Derek Schooley’s club is now 5-3. The colonials visit Niagara on Thursday afternoon. Then, they welcome RIT to the Island Sports Center on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

Tim Benz is an editor on the Tribune-Review team. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets can be posted again. All emails are subject to publication, unless otherwise specified.

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Sports | Steelers / NFL | Breakfast with Benz

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