Live Wire: Eight more Ravens to COVID list ... Steelers awaiting results after midnight ... Haden questionable ... Conner, Danny Smith test positive

Welcome to Week 3 of our new Steelers Live Wire, a round-the-clock feature that offers news that's fast, friendly to use and fun. If you're looking for anything from Week 2, that's right here.

As they say, here we go ...

CONNER GIVES THUMBS-UP

10:15 p.m. Saturday: James Conner's a cancer survivor, so his status will be on plenty of minds after testing positive. But multiple reports today suggest he's symptom-free, and this tweet tonight to Joe Haden supports that. -- DK

STEELERS EXPECTING
RESULTS AFTER MIDNIGHT

9:51 p.m. Saturday: Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reports that the Steelers are waiting on today's tests, with results expected at midnight or later. Florio explains that the Steelers' results take longer than those of most teams because of their relative proximity to the appropriate labs, and he raises the possibility that James Conner's positive earlier today could be just the beginning. -- DK

ANOTHER POSITIVE
FOR BALTIMORE

8:15 p.m. Saturday: The Ravens have another COVID-19 positive tonight, per Fox Sports' Jay Glazer, and that a second player will be added to the list. That isn't official, but it'll raise their number to 22. In the same report, Glazer makes clear the NFL's stance that the Tuesday game is still on, in part because Baltimore has other players expected back by then. -- DK

CANADA WON'T COACH 
DUE TO ILLNESS

4:26 p.m. Saturday: The Steelers issued their final injury report Saturday for Tuesday's game and also announced that quarterback coach Matt Canada won't coach in that contest -- assuming it is still played -- because of an illness not related at this time to COVID-19. The Steelers also announced that assistant wide receivers coach Blaine Stewart will handle the duties of special teams coordinator Danny Smith, who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the day.

As for the team's injury report, Joe Haden (knee) is listed as questionable for Tuesday's game, while Jaylen Samuels (quad) is listed as out. Typically, when Mike Tomlin lists a player as questionable, he does not play, meaning Haden is likely out for this game. We'll see. Cam Sutton replaced Haden after he left last week's game against the Jaguars, with second-year corner Justin Layne playing on the outside in the nickel and dime when Sutton moved into the slot. -- Lolley

SIX MORE RAVENS ADDED
TO RESERVE/COVID-19 LIST

4:15 p.m. Saturday: So much for the Ravens getting through this thing. The team placed six more players on the Reserve/COVID-19 List on Saturday, including starting right tackle D.J. Fluker. Also placed on the list were outside linebacker Jaylon Ferguson, offensive tackle Will Holden, defensive tackle Broderick Washington and cornerbacks Tayvon Young and Khalil Dorsey.

Young and Dorsey were already on the team's injured reserve list. The Ravens now have 20 players listed as being on their Reserve/COVID List. -- Lolley

HADEN WITH SOME SNARL

3:53 p.m. Saturday: I dare say Joe Haden beat me to this. -- DK

REPORT: SMITH IS THE COACH

1:39 p.m. Saturday: The coach who tested positive is Danny Smith, per the Post-Gazette. And again, repeating from just below, none of this is confirmed by  the team in any way. -- DK 

REPORT: CONNER, COACH
TEST POSITIVE

1:02 p.m. Saturday: James Conner and one of the Steelers' coaches have tested positive for coronavirus, per NFL Network. There's been no acknowledgement or announcement from the team. If that information becomes corroborated by the team and/or further testing, Conner's name would be added to three players placed on the team's COVID list yesterday: Stephon Tuitt, Isaiah Buggs and Jerald Hawkins. 

Only thing I'll add here is that, as with Baltimore's situation at its outset a week ago, there's a lot we don't know. It's not known if any of the three from yesterday tested positive. It's also not known how many times anyone, including Conner, would've tested positive to cross-check against a possible false positive. We'll know soon enough. But also bear in mind that, for every legit positive, contact tracing alone can/must take other people off the field. -- DK

HARBAUGH STATEMENT
VOWS RAVENS WILL BE READY

12:10 a.m. Saturday: You know, I've been rough on John Harbaugh and the Ravens all week, but this statement issued tonight by Baltimore is pitch-perfect. -- DK

NO PRACTICE SATURDAY
FOR STEELERS

12:05 a.m. Saturday: With three players testing positive for coronavirus and going on the Reserve/COVID-19 List Friday, the Steelers won't practice on Saturday. This comes after the Steelers were off Friday, as well. The NFL will shut down all team facilities Monday and Tuesday of next week in an effort to slow the steady crawl of COVID-19 infections across the league, so this will count as the Steelers' two days. The Steelers were exempt from this rule since they play Tuesday and then again the following Sunday, but better safe than sorry. -- Lolley

TUITT, BUGGS, HAWKINS
ADDED TO COVID LIST

4:33 p.m. Friday: The Steelers have three additions of their own to the COVID-19 list: Stephon Tuitt, Isaiah Buggs and Jerald Hawkins. There was no word on the team's release beyond that, including whether or not any of the three actually tested positive. Bear in mind, most people added to the list haven't tested positive but are placed there out of caution or because of contact tracing. We'll see. (By the way, we know the Steelers were caught by surprise by this because they released an injury report -- even though they didn't practice -- and listed Tuitt as a full participant on Friday.) -- DK

RAVENS ADD LAMAR,
THREE MORE TO LIST

IT'S NOW OFFICIAL:
KICKOFF 8:15 P.M. TUESDAY

3:24 p.m. Friday: Well, that's that ... until it isn't, I guess. Oh, and I've finished the rewrite of today's column, if you're interested. -- DK

ESPN: GAME TENTATIVELY
BEING MOVED TO TUESDAY

2:55 p.m. Friday: According to ESPN's Adam Schefter and Dianna Russini, the Steelers-Ravens game is 'tentatively' being moved to Tuesday. That's all the info that's available at this second. I'm going to start rewriting my column. -- DK

ANOTHER POSITIVE TEST

1:53 p.m. Friday: Per Pro Football Talk, another Baltimore player tested positive Friday, though there has been no official announcement of that yet. If this is the case, there's little chance the NFL will allow the Ravens to play Sunday. 

Chances are the game gets moved to Monday or Tuesday, assuming the Ravens don't continue to have players test positive. -- Lolley

HADEN IN CAR ACCIDENT

1:15 p.m. Friday: Normally, Joe Haden would have been at the UMPC Rooney Sports Complex finishing up his Friday practice. But because practice was cancelled on Friday due to the situation with the Ravens, Haden was out and about. And apparently, this happened:

As Haden tweeted, he's OK after this minor traffic accident. But it's just another incident that happened because of the situation with the Ravens. -- Lolley

NO DECISION UNTIL LATER

11:47 a.m. Friday: Even the NFL can't get expedited COVID tests back. According to a source, the NFL remains in a holding pattern until later this afternoon. As we saw Thursday with the news of Lamar Jackson's positive test, that can take some time.  The league obviously wants this game to be played on Sunday, or it would simply push the game back a day or two. Of course, that would involve moving next Thursday night's Cowboys-Ravens game, as well, which is why the league is holding off until it gets the latest round of tests. But Mike Tomlin did cancel the Steelers' practice today. That could lead a person to believe the Steelers don't feel they'll be playing Sunday, though they do still intend to hold practice Saturday. -- Lolley

STEELERS ADJUST SCHEDULE

11 a.m. Friday: With no word yet from the league on whether they will play Sunday or not against the Ravens, the Steelers have adjusted their practice schedule for today until they get clarification. We'll let you know if anything else changes. -- Lolley

BACK TO PRACTICE?

3:49 a.m. Friday: Hey, who knows anything about anything now, right? With the game still officially set for 1:15 p.m. Sunday at Heinz Field, the Steelers would/should practice today, 10:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., on the South Side. But we'll see how things go through this morning, with the NFL expected to decide how the weekend will go following the Ravens piling up more and more positive tests. -- DK

JACKSON TESTS POSITIVE

7:42 p.m. Thursday: According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the shoe everyone was waiting to drop finally happened: Lamar Jackson has tested positive for COVID-19. Obviously, this isn't official just yet, but Rapoport isn't running with that one without confirmation. Jackson not only won't be available to play against the Steelers Sunday, he likely is out for the Ravens' Thursday night game against the Cowboys, as well. Robert Griffin III is Baltimore's backup. Third-string quarterback Trace McSorely also is on the Reserve/COVID-19 List. It brings into question a number of things, all of which I cover here.-- Lolley

STEELERS DRAW
TORBERT'S CREW

6 p.m. Thursday: The Steelers have Ron Torbert's crew for their game Sunday against the Ravens. Why do I feel like that deserves to be mentioned? Torbert's crew has worked 10 games this season. The home team has won eight of those games. That 80 percent winning percentage for home teams is well above the league average of 53 percent this season. This will be the second time that Torbert's crew has handled a game at Heinz Field. The earlier came back Oct. 11 when the Steelers beat the Eagles. -- Lolley 

TREY EDMUNDS TO IR,
McDONALD ACTIVATED

4:25 p.m. Thursday: Couple of roster moves just now: Trey Edmunds, out the past two week-plus with a hamstring injury, was placed on Injured Reserve, and Vance McDonald had his two-day COVID-19 roster exemption end. McDonald had technically been activated off the COVID list Tuesday, but this makes official his availability to play Sunday. Also, the team just issued an injury report that's completely identical to yesterday's, which should be obvious considering Mike Tomlin gave the team Thanksgiving off. -- DK

MINKAH EATS WHAT?

4:15 p.m. Thursday: When they sit at the Thanksgiving table at Minkah Fitzpatrick's place, they'll have at least one unusual dish at hand. Watch this thing to the end.

Honestly, I've got no issue with it. Might try it myself here in a few. -- DK

ONE MORE RAVENS PLAYER,
TWO COACHES POSITIVE

12:09 p.m. Thursday: The Ravens added defensive end Jihad Ward as testing positive for COVID-19 today, bringing the total number of players who will be on the Reserve/COVID-19 List by the end of today to eight, including three defensive linemen: Ward, Calais Campbell and Brandon Williams. The Ravens yet again weren't able to practice at all. Below is the full list. And bear in mind, only Williams out of the eight below is eligible to return Sunday. -- Lolley

WATT, CANADAY LEAD
FAN PRO BOWL VOTING

10:55 a.m. Thursday: Fan voting for the Pro Bowl opened last week and two Steelers lead their respective positions in the AFC. And it's not necessarily who you would think. While T.J. Watt leads the voting for outside linebackers, the other Steelers player leading his position is ... long snapper Kameron Canaday. 

Now, I'm not going to tell you Canaday is having a good or bad season. Or whether his season is better than any other long-snapper out there. But the Steelers do lead all teams in votes, so there's that. Voting is open through Dec. 17 and can be done online here. -- Lolley

COLOR RUSH STILL IN PLAY

9:20 a.m. Thursday: Per Burt Lauten, the Steelers' media relations guru, the color rush uniforms remain in effect Sunday. Which is good. Because those are good. -- DK

ROONEY'S STATEMENT

9:05 a.m. Thursday: Art Rooney II expresses regret over the postponement and thanks the service workers who've kept the Steelers' facilities clean. -- DK

TOMLIN'S WAY
OF SAYING THANKS

2:12 a.m. Thursday: No game today, obviously, but also no practice. Mike Tomlin will give the players off today, then resume practices tomorrow on the South Side. But hey, we wouldn't leave you without content on the holiday. Tom Reid's got an extraordinary expository piece up on Chase Claypool's high school career, I've got a Grind that achieves little more than ripping the Ravens, and below is the morning's podcast. Happy Thanksgiving! -- DK

HADEN, JUJU BACK ON FIELD

4:05 p.m. Wednesday: The Steelers held a full practice on Wednesday, and Joe Haden was still limited with his knee injury suffered last week against the Jaguars. So, Haden will get a few more days to rest that knee before Sunday. JuJu Smith-Schuster, the other starter hurt Sunday in Jacksonville, was limited, too. But bear in mind, both were upgrades from not practicing at all the previous day. -- Lolley

GAME POSTPONED TO SUNDAY

12:34 p.m. Wednesday: Poof. There it goes. The NFL bows to Baltimore and postpones the game to Sunday, 1:15 p.m., at Heinz Field. Dale Lolley has the details in a separate report. -- DK

RAVENS ADD THREE
TO GROWING COVID LIST

4:30 p.m. Tuesday: The names of some of the other Ravens added to the Reserve/COVID List are now out, and it's certainly not as bad as it could have been, though Baltimore reporters are suggesting there will be more names to come in the next 48 hours. Tuesday, third-string quarterback Trace McSorley, backup linebacker Pernell McPhee and cornerback Iman Marshall, who is on injured reserve, were added to the list. The Ravens also have at least one assistant coach and several front office people who have tested positive. 

It's been quite a week, and it might not be done. Monday, the team placed running backs J.K. Dobbins and Mark Ingram on the list, while nose tackle Brandon Williams after close contact tracing showed him to be at risk. As of now, NFL is stating plainly that the game will go on, and the Ravens plan to travel to Pittsburgh Wednesday for their Thursday night game. But further positive tests Wednesday could put the game at risk. -- Lolley

BEN LISTED WITH QUAD,
HADEN, JUJU HELD OUT

4:05 p.m. Tuesday: The first injury report of the week is out:

Most striking, of course, is that Ben Roethlisberger is listed as having a quad injury, but it's accompanied by 'Not Injury Related,' which means even though he has the issue, it's not the reason he was held out of practice. Same goes for Cam Heyward's listed ankle. Most significant are that neither Joe Haden nor JuJu Smith-Schuster practiced, as that keeps us from having any clarity as to how or if they'll bounce back from their injuries Sunday in Jacksonville. Or not. To repeat from below, this was the lightest imaginable practice. The equivalent of football in shorts, even if if was too cold for shorts. -- DK

McDONALD RETURNS

3:50 p.m. Tuesday: Vance McDonald practiced today, we're permitted to confirm, since the team-issued pool photos just now show him doing so in multiple shots, including the one atop this file. Not a surprise. Just sharing. -- DK

FANECA, WARD, NUNN
MAKE HALL OF FAME CUT

1:03 p.m. Tuesday: Alan Faneca has once again made the cut to 25 semifinalists for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The former Steelers guard, who is a five-time finalist, was joined on the list by former Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, as well. But Faneca is considered the better bet to be voted into the Hall of Fame. He has been a finalist in each of the past four years, while Ward has never made it past the cutdown to 15 players. 

Also joining those two on the list is former Steelers scout Bill Nunn, who is a finalist as a contributor. Nunn is considered a shoe-in for induction. The complete list can be found here. -- Lolley

TIGHT END MOVES

12:15 p.m. Tuesday: The Steelers activated tight end Vance McDonald from the reserve/COVID-19 list on Tuesday. McDonald had been on the list since Nov. 10. He will practice today and is expected to play Thursday night against the Ravens. The team also placed tight end Zach Gentry on injured reserve with a knee injury suffered in last week's win over the Jaguars. To replace Gentry on the roster, tight end Kevin Rader was signed from the practice squad. 

The team signed LB/long snapper Christian Kuntz to the practice squad to replace Rader. The activation of McDonald leaves only rookie guard Kevin Dotson remaining on the team's reserve/COVID-19 list. -- Lolley

BEN NOT CONCERNED WITH
ALL OF THE THROWING

12 p.m. Tuesday: Ben Roethlisberger has had more than 42 pass attempts in four of his past five games, with a lot of those attempts coming with the Steelers holding a lead. Some have questioned whether that's a good plan for a quarterback coming back off of a major elbow injury that required surgery to repair in 2019. Roethlisberger is not concerned. "I don't think it really matters how many times we run or throw, as long as we win the football game," Roethlisberger said. "We can beat the dead horse on the RPOs and the short passes are the same as runs. We 'need to run the ball X amount of times.' No, we don't. We need to win a football game. That's what we've been doing. Maybe we'll throw it 70 times this week, who knows?" -- Lolley

BUTLER: STEELERS DON'T HAVE
JACKSON'S NUMBER

10:45 a.m. Tuesday: After the Steelers forced Lamar Jackson into four turnovers in their 28-24 win over Baltimore earlier this month, some suggested the Steelers have the reigning NFL MVP's number. In two games against the Steelers, Jackson has turned the ball over seven times. I asked Keith Butler about that Tuesday. "No, we don't have his number," Butler said. "Dadgum, the kid is a great football player. I don't think anybody has his number. We were fortunate to get out of that game. We gave up 450 yards. The offense did a a good job of scoring at the end. We had to stop them. We stopped them at the end. But we don't have his number by any means." That said, the Steelers are feeling a little disrespected as a 10-0 team. "We've got a decent defense. We've got some good players on offense. And our specialists are good, too. Everybody says we're kind of a lackluster 10-0 team. I don't of any 10-0 team that's ever been lackluster."

• Butler said the team still has no plans to get Avery Williamson on the field more. Williamson, acquired via a trade with the Jets three weeks ago, has seen limited playing time at the end of a couple of blowouts in his first two games with the Steelers as Vince Williams and Robert Spillane have gotten the majority of the work in the base defense at inside linebacker, with Marcus Allen playing the dime linebacker role. "He's still learning," said Butler. "We'll keep him that way for right now. Is he going to start for us? Maybe one day he will. Right now, we like the guys that we've got." -- Lolley

FICHTNER HAS NO NUMBER
IN MIND FOR STEELERS POINTS

10:30 a.m. Tuesday: The Steelers are fourth in the league in scoring and they are the only team in the league that's scored 24 or more points in every game this season. But they always want more. Randy Fichtner was asked if he has a number in mind each week that he'd like to score. "I can see where the benchmark you always talk about is 30 and above," Fichtner said. "I don't know that there's a number. I know that the higher the number goes, the better chance we have to win, and that's all I really care about."

• I asked Fichtner about the way he's using his running backs and he pointed to this being a short week in terms of playing two games in four days as a reason for James Conner getting just 13 carries last Sunday in Jacksonville, despite having 89 rushing yards. "James really doesn't really want to come out," Fichtner said. "Really, on the short week, we have to force some of that. The big cry from me is that we need everybody. Every man that is suited, has to play in this game and help us. It is a short week. James will have to come out, whether he wants to or whether he would like to, he has to. But I do believe that Benny (Snell) is deserving of more carries. We're trying to get Ant (Anthony McFarland) in for situations. ... We're working on all of them. We're not trying to say 'you go in for that situation,' then you don't get any flow whatsoever. As we continue to run the ball a little bit more efficiently, you'll see a little bit more flow with backs playing." -- Lolley

WAIT, ONLY ONE PRACTICE?

3:39 a.m. Tuesday: Yeah, just one practice. That's the nature of a short week. The Steelers will have a workout today at noon on the South Side, but it won't be physical, based on precedent, and it'll be the only one in advance of the Thanksgiving night game against the Ravens. All that'd occur tomorrow is a very light walk-through. Beyond that, there's lots of activity on our front, with both coordinators speaking beginning at 10:30 a.m., then Ben Roethlisberger at 11:45, among others. Dale Lolley will be on location, and we'll track everything right here ... as long as you're nice.

Oh, and I've got a new Grind up today on Terrell Edmunds, and Ramon Foster has some thoughts on perfection. -- DK

STEELERS WILL WEAR
COLOR RUSH UNIFORMS

7:45 p.m. Monday: The Steelers have announced they will wear their Color Rush uniforms for Thursday night's game against the Ravens. It will mark the first time they've worn the popular deep black uniforms with gold letters and striping:

The Steelers are 5-1 when they wear the special uniforms. -- Lolley

NO FANS AFTER RAVENS GAME,
PER STATE GUIDELINES

6:00 p.m. Monday: Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten released an official statement from the team in response to new directives from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Effective after the Thursday night game against the Ravens, the Steelers will only be allowed 2,500 people inside of Heinz Field and that, because of that, the team will only allow family and guests of players and staff to attend games:

The Steelers' final home games impacted by this are against the Washington on Dec. 6, and the Colts on Dec. 27. -- Carter

RAVENS' WILLIAMS OUT, AS WELL

4:04 p.m. Monday: John Harbaugh says that defensive tackle Brandon Williams will go on the team's COVID-19 list, meaning he will also be out for the game if it's played on Thanksgiving night. Williams doesn't have COVID, but he's on the list following contact tracing. In his afternoon statement, Harbaugh also stated that the team held virtual meetings Monday morning and that their training facility reopened Monday afternoon.

Missing Williams is a big deal for a defensive line that's been hurt with Calais Campbell and Williams missing Sunday's game against the Titans due to injury. They gave up 173 rushing yards to the Titans Sunday and the Ravens have a quick turnaround to prepare for the Steelers and the NFL's eighth-leading rusher, James Conner. -- Carter

DOBBINS, INGRAM OUT

3:15 p.m. Monday: The Ravens who tested positive for COVID-19, according to the team, were the team's top running backs, Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins. If the game is played Thursday, the Ravens will have to rely on Gus Edwards at running back, and that's if he isn't listed as one of the close contacts for either player. We'll keep an eye out for which players are announced as part of the Ravens' COVID-19/reserve list. -- Carter

REPORT: SEVERAL RAVENS
TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID-19

1:30 p.m. Monday: Jamison Hensley of ESPN reported that the Ravens had several players test positive for COVID-19 and that their training facility has been shut down.

On top of concerns for which players and how many tested positive, any player or coach deemed to be a 'close contact' with someone who has tested positive must be isolated from the team for a total of five days, meaning that all such players would not be available to play against the Steelers on Thursday. We'll keep you up to date as more information comes out, but obviously this puts the scheduled Thanksgiving night game between the Steelers and Ravens in jeopardy with it only being three days away. -- Carter

CLAYPOOL ON JAMS,
PASS INTERFERENCE

1:15 p.m. Monday: Anyone up for a little Chase Claypool? 

He recorded his eight receiving touchdown and tenth total touchdown Sunday against the Jaguars in just his tenth NFL game. When asked about just now in his call with us how the Steelers have helped his development in such a short time, he spoke about how they've helped improve his ability to beat press coverage.

"I think Ike (Hilliard) has done a really good job sharpening up the fine details," Claypool said. "I brought some of that in, but in college I didn't face a lot of press coverage. So a lot of that has been learning through scout defense, our defense or opponent defenses to see how to beat them."

Claypool noted that he's also talked with Ben Roethlisberger about how to fight through defenders during contact while the ball is in the air, even when pass interference isn't called.

"It's something that I'm trying to work on, getting through some of those PI (pass interference) calls," Claypool continued. "But as you can see from yesterday's game, you can't fight through a tackle sometimes. I'm happy to know he can throw it up and it's either catch or a PI. I definitely watch some of these games and I see some of these guys get PI and the flag doesn't come out. It's no specific receiver, but if a Pro Bowl receiver throws his hands up they can get a call here or there. I'm going to try that, probably not this year, but somewhere down the road."

Claypool noted that he expected his size and physicality to be an advantage he could lean on in the NFL.

"Watching game film and looking at corners in the league, I knew I would measure up well physically," Claypool said. "And then if there's a corner who's bigger than me, then DAMN. But I was expecting to be good." -- Carter

MCDONALD RETURNING
TO PRACTICE TUESDAY

12:25 p.m. Monday: Mike Tomlin brought good news on the Steelers offense with his weekly press conference. Tight end Vance McDonald is scheduled to practice Tuesday for the Steelers after missing the last two games due to COVID-19.

"Vance is scheduled to work tomorrow," Tomlin said. He's been cleared to come back. We're going to let the quality of his participation and how to responds to that work to be our guide in terms of determining his availability and all the other dominoes."

That's big news as Zach Gentry was the only tight end on the depth chart behind Eric Ebron, and he suffered what Tomlin described as a 'significant knee injury.' Tomlin said the Steelers are still waiting for more details on the extent of the injury, but that he won't be able to play Thanksgiving night against the Ravens at Heinz Field. McDonald returning gives the Steelers two tight ends again. -- Carter 

EBRON SAYS STEELERS WANT
DEFENSES IN MAN COVERAGE

10:30 a.m. Monday: Eric Ebron talked about the Steelers' talent on offense and the challenges it brings for defenses to keep up. After scoring his fourth touchdown on the season Sunday, Ebron had a message for opposing defenses.

"Play man," Ebron said. "That's what we want! We just want ya'll to come play man coverage. It's going to be hard to guard us with a zone or whatever because we have the athletes to do that. We just want teams to line up and play man, then we'll pick you apart even more. You just have to pick your poison against us. We have so many talented and young receivers." 

Ebron then went on to praise the Steelers' young receiver room, noting how close the group is with how one player can score in Chase Claypool but the group can come together to celebrate JuJu Smith-Schuster's birthday in the end zone.

"I keep telling Ike (Hilliard) and Mike (Tomlin), when these dudes get older and understand more intricacies and more nuances to route running, this room is going to be crazy," Ebron continued. "They might not all be here because they're all special, but they're going to be crazy athletes. It's dope to be part of this right now and be a seven-year veteran, still young myself but be old enough to lead the younger guys in the receiver world. When it all comes to fruition, it's so dope that we all lean on each other. Like the celebration of Chase's touchdown, but we celebrate it for JuJu's birthday. That's just what kind of team we are. No one's selfish. No one cares who gets the ball, no one cares who gets the first down or a touchdown. We're a team and that's what's dope."

Here's a full video of his Monday morning comments:

He's a handful, huh? -- Carter

EBRON CALLS OUT 'EXPERTS'
ON STEELERS RUN GAME

10:15 a.m. Monday: Eric Ebron is the Steelers' own live wire when he gets to the podium. He was asked about the opinion that the Steelers need to run the ball more to win later this season. And he was having none of it.

"These are the same experts that never played football before?" Ebron asked. "We don't care what people say, man. If it's December football and we have to throw it to win, then we're going to throw it to win. It is what it is. Our run game will improve and continue to improve. You have to understand now that everyone is in this virtual intensive protocol, not everyone is together for these run-game reps. We have to fit it in and get as much as we can as a unit as possible." 

"Yes, we took a little dip," Ebron continued. "But we had six games where we rushed for over 100 yards and we're 10-0. So out of the four games we didn't rush for over 100 yards, but we need to do better? I'm statistically within this, I love numbers so we can talk stats all day." -- Carter

TUITT: STEELERS FOCUSED 
ON 'FIVE-STAR MATCHUP'

9:45 a.m. Monday: Stephon Tuitt isn't concerned about the Steelers' 10-0 record, echoing the message from Ben Roethlisberger in recent weeks. He knows the Steelers have to be ready for a Ravens team on a short week, still calling the game a 'five star matchup,' a phrase that's stuck with the Steelers since the early days of the Mike Tomlin era.

"No, we don't really talk about our undefeated season at all," Tuitt said. "We treat every week as a new week. We keep preaching the type of game that we're in. This is a five star matchup, once again, that we're in. We need to make sure we're prepared for that. At the end of the day, the goal is to make it to the Super Bowl and what record we have to make it there doesn't really matter." -- Carter.

UNUSUALLY BUSY MONDAY

1:17 a.m. Monday: The Steelers chartered home shortly after their 27-3 victory over the Jaguars here, and they'll be active on the South Side reviewing this game as well as looking ahead to the Ravens on Thanksgiving night. That's obviously not a ton of time.

Mike Tomlin's press conference will be at noon today, a day earlier than the norm. We'll also have calls with Stephon Tuitt, Eric Ebron and Chase Claypool, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Because Dale Lolley and I will be flying back at that time, Chris Carter will keep you updated on those calls and any news right here on this file.

• All our coverage from down here is in one convenient place, and here's Dale Lolley and me on Java: