AFC North

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson discussed the reported heated exchange with quarterback Mitchell Trubisky in Week 4:

"There's no bad blood between us at all," Johnson said. "It's just us being football players at times and we're not gonna let that stop us from achieving the goal that everybody is trying to achieve around here."

This seemingly confirms reports of a locker room confrontation between the two at halftime during the Oct. 2 loss to the New York Jets, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Trubisky was benched for the second half in favor of rookie Kenny Pickett.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin refused to answer questions about the reported dispute Tuesday.

"Our business is our business and I understand in today's climate, oftentimes there's leaks, our business getting the street," Tomlin said. "But I'm not gonna acknowledge it or confirm it or deny it in these settings."

Pickett made the team's next two starts before suffering a head injury Sunday, allowing Trubisky to return and lead the Steelers to a 20-18 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Tomlin said Pickett will start if healthy and the quarterback is currently "on track" to play, according to Mark Kaboly of The Athletic.

Johnson did see a season-high 13 targets in Pickett's lone full game this year, although the wideout still only finished with five catches for 60 yards in a 38-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills. It's been a disappointing year for the Pro Bowler, who has yet to score a touchdown and has just 33 catches for 295 yards.

After averaging 72.6 receiving yards per game in 2021, Johnson is only averaging 49.2 yards per game this year.

The 26-year-old will hope to get on the same page with whoever lines up under center in Week 7 against the Miami Dolphins.

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had no interest in confirming or denying whether there was an altercation between quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and wide receiver Diontae Johnson during halftime of the team's Week 4 game against the New York Jets.

Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that confrontation led to Trubisky's benching and rookie Kenny Pickett making his first appearance, and ESPN's Brooke Pryor asked a non-committal Tomlin about it:

"If it were, do you think that I would share it with you in this environment? Probably not. Our business is our business and I understand it today's climate, oftentimes there's leaks, our business getting the street. But I'm not gonna acknowledge it or confirm it or deny it in these settings. I'm just not, I ain't got enough hours of my day for it.

"The things that happen among competitors from time to time is normal business. Everyone wants to win. If it transpired, it's good. It probably means there's a couple guys that wanted to win. If it didn't transpire, it probably means that it should have because we are aggressively pursuing victory. Sometimes that's emotional."

According to Dulac, Johnson yelled at Trubisky during halftime of that game to throw to him more often. The quarterback reportedly responded by engaging in a "heated exchange," which was when Pickett was informed he would be under center for the second half.

While the Steelers lost that game 24-20, it seemed like the move to the rookie was solidified when he scored two touchdowns on the ground and started the next two contests.

Yet Pickett suffered a concussion during the Week 6 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Trubisky came in and excelled while going 9-of-12 for 144 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions.

His touchdown pass to Chase Claypool in the fourth quarter pushed the lead to eight, and Pittsburgh's defense stood strong on the two-point conversion after Tampa Bay scored a touchdown in the final five minutes.

That was just enough to escape with a 20-18 victory.

Perhaps Trubisky will remain under center for the upcoming game against the Miami Dolphins with Pickett's status still up in the air, and he played like someone who could be deserving of a second shot in the win over Tampa Bay.

But don't expect Tomlin to reveal what goes on in the locker room regardless of who is under center.

Lamar Jackson is really going to want the final three minutes of Sunday's 24-20 loss against the New York Giants back.

The Baltimore Ravens quarterback threw a wild interception and was strip-sacked on his team's final two drives, setting up the Giants for the go-ahead touchdown after the pick and the ability to run the clock out after the fumble.

Jackson struggled through the air in general against a tough Giants defense, finishing 17-of-32 for 210 yards, a touchdown and an interception while taking two sacks. But he was dynamic on the ground, as usual, rushing seven times for 77 yards, and was in prime position to lead the Ravens to a win.

And then everything fell apart. That, unsurprisingly, made Jackson the primary figure of scrutiny after the loss:

One of the narratives that has dogged Jackson throughout his career, fair or not, is that he isn't effective enough as a pocket passer to lead the Ravens to a title. On Sunday, the Jackson haters added more fuel to the fire.

This one wasn't only on Jackson. The Ravens were penalized 10 times for 74 yards, including an illegal formation call on the play before Jackson's interception that negated a first-down conversion. The defense held firm for three quarters, only to give up two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Justin Tucker missed a field goal. The Ravens only came away with one touchdown in three red-zone trips.

It was a team loss, no doubt. But Jackson is the face of the franchise and made the two mistakes that sealed the loss. Blaming him entirely is hardly fair, but it shouldn't come as a surprise that he'll bear the brunt of the angst from Ravens fans.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett was ruled out for the remainder of Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a concussion after exiting in the third quarter.

He went back to the locker room and was subsequently replaced by Mitchell Trubisky.

The 24-year-old was the first QB selected in the 2022 NFL draft, coming off the board with the No. 20 pick. It was the latest the first signal-caller was taken in a draft since 1997.

Pickett began the year as the backup to Trubisky but showed enough to take over the starting job as the season progressed. He entered Sunday's game with 447 passing yards, zero touchdown throws and four interceptions.

The Steelers made a dream come true when they chose Pickett. The New Jersey native spent five years playing for the Pittsburgh Panthers, emerging as the team's full-time starter at the beginning of his sophomore season.

Pickett took full advantage of his extra year of eligibility in 2021 and established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. He threw for 4,319 yards, 42 touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 67.2 percent of his passes. He led Pitt to an 11-2 record and its first ACC Championship in program history. It was the Panthers' best record since 1976.

The Steelers signed Trubisky this offseason, which gave them the option of taking a slow approach with Pickett's development. However, Trubisky's lackluster play opened the door for Pickett to see the field. While the rookie is sidelined, Pittsburgh will be hopeful Trubisky can lead its offense better this time around.

In his first five NFL seasons, the 28-year-old had 10,652 career passing yards, 64 touchdowns and 38 interceptions. The former first-round pick by the Chicago Bears spent the 2021 season with the Buffalo Bills as backup to Josh Allen.

The Steelers also have Mason Rudolph as their third-string quarterback. He'll back up Trubisky while Pickett is out.

Pittsburgh Steelers star T.J. Watt will have his return to the field delayed even further after he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter and Brooke Pryor.

The surgery, which was done "to clean up a preseason injury that lingered into the regular season," is expected to push back Watt's return to the field by an extra week, per Schefter and Pryor.

Watt suffered a torn pec in his team's Week 1 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, although he didn't tear the tendon. While there were initial concerns the injury would be season-ending, he was able to avoid surgery and was instead given a six-week timeline to return.

Following knee surgery, Watt now may not return until after Week 9.

The Steelers placed the pass-rusher on injured reserve, but he did indicate he will return in gif form:

A healthy Watt would be huge for the Steelers, who are looking to reach the playoffs for the third straight season.

The 27-year-old is the league's reigning Defensive Player of the Year after totaling an NFL-best 22.5 sacks in 2021. He added 64 tackles with 21 tackles for loss, which also led the league.

Watt has been a force on the edge since being selected in the first round of the 2017 draft, totaling 72 sacks in his first five seasons with four Pro Bowl selections and three first-team All-Pro honors. He has tallied at least 13 sacks in each of the last four years, leading the league twice in the category.

The Wisconsin product was on his way to another strong start with a sack and an interception in Week 1, but the injury slowed him down.

Watt will hope for a strong second-half of the season to help the 1-3 Steelers.

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed Myles Garrett is "good to go" for Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

This would be Garrett's first game back since he was involved in a single-car crash on Sept. 26. The three-time Pro Bowler suffered strains to his shoulder and biceps as a result of the crash.

Garrett told reporters he's "feeling good" and doesn't believe the injuries will present a problem when he's on the field.

The 6'4, 272-pound edge-rusher got off to a strong start this season. Through Cleveland's first three games, he had seven tackles, three sacks and one forced fumble.

Without Garrett in Week 4, the Browns didn't have much trouble keeping Atlanta Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota in check. Mariota went 7-of-19 for 139 yards and an interception.

The Falcons did, however, run for 202 yards as a team. Atlanta's running game powered the team to a 23-20 victory, and a healthy Garrett might have made a difference in slowing down Tyler Allgeier (84 yards) and Caleb Huntley (56 yards).

At least the Browns are set to have him back when they're up against Justin Herbert and the Chargers' dynamic aerial attack. Herbert's 1,250 passing yards are the third-most in the league, and he's fifth in quarterback rating (102.2).

Getting consistent pressure on Herbert will go a long way toward Cleveland earning its third win.

The Kenny Pickett era has officially begun in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers will start the 24-year-old at quarterback for Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills, with Pickett passing Mitch Trubisky on the team's official depth chart.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport first reported the change on Monday.

The news comes as no surprise after Pickett replaced Trubisky at halftime in the Week 4 loss to the New York Jets. The former Chicago Bears QB had completed just seven of 13 passes for 84 yards and one interception before being replaced.

Pickett completed 10 of his 13 passes for 120 yards and three interceptions, one of which came on a Hail Mary in the final seconds of the game. He also rushed for 15 yards and two scores in relief of Trubisky.

When the Steelers replaced the 28-year-old, they were down 10-6. But Pickett rejuvenated the team, which went on to score 14 unanswered points to take a 20-10 lead before the Jets scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Trubisky has been largely ineffective this season. Entering Week 4, the first-year Steeler had completed 60.2 percent of his passes for 569 yards and two touchdowns against one interception. The free-agent signing was also averaging just 5.5 yards per attempt.

That said, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had frequently called for patience with Trubisky. He even reaffirmed his belief in the veteran signal-caller following a Week 3 loss to the Browns, saying he wasn't considering starting Pickett.

Obviously, Tomlin's feelings about Trubisky changed after another disappointing performance in Week 4, and it's hard to imagine he will get another chance to start this season.

The Steelers selected Pickett in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft to be Ben Roethlisberger's heir, and now it's his time to show the franchise what he can do as its leader.

Longtime Baltimore Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith announced his retirement from the NFL after 11 seasons Monday.

Smith will officially announce his retirement at a Monday press conference after signing a one-day contract.

Smith spent his entire career in Baltimore after being a 2011 first-round pick. While he never made a Pro Bowl team, Smith was a consistently solid fixture in the Ravens secondary while filling several roles over the course of his career. He was part of the franchise's Super Bowl XLVII-winning team, recording two passes defensed in Baltimore's 34-31 win over the San Francisco 49ers.

For his career, Smith recorded 374 tackles and 14 interceptions. He returned two of those picks for scores and also added 74 passes defensed.

Injuries plagued most of Smith's career. He played in every game in just two seasons during his career and missed at least five games in nine of his 11 seasons. Over his final three years in Baltimore, Smith was limited to only 30 games, and the injury issues ultimately cost him his starting job.

A free agent since March, Smith was clearly open to the idea of playing again but ultimately decided it was the best time for him to walk away.