Steelers notebook: Texans' DeAndre Hopkins could catch Antonio Brown for yardage title
As expected, Antonio Brown will sit out the regular-season finale.
The question remains, will he win another receiving title?
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin confirmed during his weekly news conference Tuesday that Brown will not play Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. Brown sat out Monday's win at Houston because of the contusion suffered in his lower left leg Dec. 17 against New England.
Brown had sizable leads in receptions and receiving yards heading into that Week 15 game.
With a week to go, though, Brown was passed by Miami's Jarvis Landry in catches (103-101; Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald, a Pitt product, also has 101 receptions) and has seen his lead in receiving yards shrink to 155 over Houston's DeAndre Hopkins (1,533-1,378).
Hopkins and the Texans visit the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
Last season, Brown sat out the regular-season finale because the Steelers were locked into the AFC's No. 3 seed, and Fitzgerald passed him in receptions 107-106.
Brown led the NFL in catches and yards in 2014 and tied with Julio Jones for the lead in catches in 2015.
Tomlin said the Steelers “came out of the (Houston) game pretty well” in regards to injury.
That doesn't include players with pre-existing ailments such as Brown, starting guard Ramon Foster (concussion) or reserve cornerback Coty Sensabaugh (shoulder). Tomlin did not give updates on those players.
Sack variety
The Steelers are closing in on the single-season franchise record of 55 sacks. Of their 50 sacks this season, 16 have come from outside linebackers, 21 from defensive linemen, eight from inside linebackers and five from defensive backs.
Thirteen players have at least one sack.
“I think our commitment to everyone being valuable in that area (has led to 50 sacks),” Tomlin said. “Sometimes it's the interior defensive line, sometimes the perimeter defensive lines, sometimes the linebackers. Sometimes it's members of the secondary like it was with Mike Hilton.
“If you're going to be a group that is committed to applying pressure on the quarterback, you have to be willing and capable of it coming from any and all areas, and that's something that we really focus on.”
High praise for Heyward
Tomlin often praises defensive captain Cam Heyward.
But Tuesday, perhaps motivated by Heyward being left off the AFC Pro Bowl roster or perhaps fresh off watching the film of Heyward's two-sack game against the Texans, Tomlin was more effusive than usual. Tomlin compared Heyward, a defensive end on the Pro Bowl ballot, to star interior defensive linemen Aaron Donald of the Rams and Geno Atkins of the Bengals.
“When you look at it from that perspective, the season that he is having is a really special one,” Tomlin said. “He rushes on the interior just like those men and is having a very comparable season to the best in the world in terms of being an interior rush man.”
Heyward has 12 sacks, tied for fifth in the NFL and the second-most by a Steelers defensive lineman since the stat became official in 1982.
Snap decisions
Among the notable snap counts from Monday was that Anthony Chickillo played on each side of the defense, spelling starting outside linebackers Bud Dupree and T.J. Watt. Two days after James Harrison's release, Arthur Moats did not play on defense.
At wide receiver in Brown's absence, JuJu Smith-Schuster played 52 of 61 offensive snaps, Martavis Bryant 44, Eli Rogers 27, Darrius Heyward-Bey 13 and Justin Hunter just six.
Despite the early reliance on Vance McDonald in the passing game, Jesse James played more snaps than any tight end with 32.
McDonald played 29 and Xavier Grimble 14.
Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.
