Cleveland Browns

More than a few people saw Thursday night’s F-bomb interaction between Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and coach Mike McCarthy.

The Week 4 Thursday night game on Prime Video averaged 16.59 million viewers.

It’s a 19-percent increase over last year’s Week 4 Thursday night meeting between the Seahawks and Cardinals. That game averaged 13.94 million viewers.

The number, per Amazon, made it the most-watched Week 4 Thursday night game since Prime Video assumed the package in 2022.

An unresolved question lingers as to whether Amazon is goosing the numbers by autoplaying the game for anyone who visits their Prime page while the game is being televised. The higher numbers are obviously good for Amazon, and in turn good for the NFL.

Either way, Thursday Night Football is here to stay. The only question is whether and when it will be joined by a Tuesday night and/or Wednesday night effort on a weekly basis.

With Paris Johnson Jr. out for the season with a torn biceps, the Cardinals have added a former first-round pick to their offensive line.

Offensive tackle Jedrick Wills is signing with Arizona off of Buffalo’s practice squad, according to a report from NFL Network.

Wills, 27, was selected by Cleveland at No. 10 overall back in 2020. He missed the 2025 season, allowing his injured knees to fully heal after he struggled to play through the 2024 season.

Wills has started 57 games, all for the Browns. His time there coincided with that of current Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett.

The Cardinals announced they’ve placed Johnson and tight end Hunter Long on injured reserve.

Veteran tight end Teagan Quitoriano was promoted to the 53-man roster off of Arizona’s practice squad.

Additionally, the Cardinals have re-signed tight end Kenny Yeboah to the practice squad, while also signing offensive lineman Austin Decals and safety Mark Perry to the unit.

Offensive lineman Vershon Lee and cornerback D’Shawn Jamison were released from the practice squad.

The Browns opened the practice window for quarterback Dillon Gabriel and defensive tackle Kalia Davis, the team announced Tuesday.

The players will have 21 days to practice before the Browns have to decide whether to activate them back to the 53-player roster. The team can activate them at any point between now and then.

Gabriel injured his back in the Browns’ final preseason game, and the team placed him on injured reserve Aug. 30.

The Browns already have Deshaun Watson, Shadeur Sanders and Taylen Green at the position on their roster.

Davis injured his quadriceps during a training camp practice.

The Browns also announced they signed wide receiver James Proche II and defensive tackle Chris Williams to their practice squad. They cut running back Eric Gray, punter Wes Pahl and offensive tackle Xavier Truss from their practice squad.

Week 4 began with Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and coach Mike McCarthy exchanging unpleasantries for all the world to see, and hear.

Rodgers looked to McCarthy while waiting for a play call. A Prime Video microphone captured Rodgers angrily yelling, “What the fuck? Call it!”

McCarthy was then seen mouthing his response: “Fucking asshole.”

After the game, McCarthy was asked about the interaction; Rodgers was not. On Monday, the situation came up multiple times again during a McCarthy press conference in advance of the Week 5 game against the Colts.

“I wouldn’t classify it as normal,” McCarthy said of the interaction, “but I think the reality of it is, you know, it’s a 20-year relationship. I think the fact that we were able to sit and talk numerous times, you know, over the weekend, about that and a number of things.

“As I stated, I’m — hopefully, not to put any pressure on my daughter — I’m getting to grandfather age. You know, I don’t want to be saying those type of words. But it’s an emotional, competitive environment. I think it’s something that we can definitely learn from.”

McCarthy also was asked whether the game broadcasts have become too intrusive.

“Your question’s about 15 years too late,” McCarthy said.

Earlier in the press conference, McCarthy said he had told the team on Thursday morning that it would be important to play the Browns with “more emotion.”

He wanted it, and he got it.

“With that comes the discipline of it,” McCarthy said. “So I think those are opportunities for growth. But I’d much rather have too much energy than not enough.”

Amen to that. It’s always easier to try to control enthusiasm than to create it when it’s not there. On Thursday night, however, it became a little too unbridled.

Come Wednesday, Rodgers will have a chance to respond. Unless he decides to call McAfee’s show on Tuesday and air any grievances he may have about the incident, how it was covered by the media, and anything else he chooses to publicly gripe about.

The Jets opened the season with an easy win over the Titans, but the last three weeks have not been as pleasant for Aaron Glenn’s club.

After blowing a lead in a painful loss against the Packers at home in Week 2, the Jets lost a close game in Detroit and then got dismantled by the Bears in Chicago on Sunday. The three-game losing streak calls to mind dismal Jets seasons of the past and the head coach was asked after Sunday’s loss if he’s worried about the roof caving in on his team in the weeks to come.

“Well, that’s exactly it, we have too many people that want to think about history,” Glenn said, via a transcript from the team. “Inside of that locker room, I want our guys not to think about history, because history is going to be brought up so much. And they get it from the outside, just beating down on history so much. We just have to circle the wagons and not let any of that come inside our locker room. We’ve been working our butts off to change that. But our guys know because everybody’s going to bring history in this. It brings so much negativity to us that we have to continue to be positive on what we’ve been doing. Improving on things, and then the things that we’re not doing good at we have to continue improving that. So that’s really the focus for us.”

Browns head coach Todd Monken had a pointed response to those who brought up his team’s own tortured history after a Week 1 loss and Cleveland has now rattled off three straight wins. Coincidentally, they’re also next up on the Jets’ schedule and Glenn will need to get a win in that game if he really wants to put any notions of another lost Jets season to rest.

Thursday night’s broadcast of Steelers-Browns on Prime Video featured plenty of tiptoeing around the elephant that Deshaun Watson dragged into the room with his own actions. From the sit-down interview with Taylor Rooks to the periodic vague references from Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit to Watson’s past issues, there was never a direct mention of the self-created adversity Watson has experienced since 2021.

It meshes with Watson’s broader approach to the situation. He has never shown true, consistent remorse for more than 25 civil lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions. Although a grand jury declined to indict him in any of the cases that landed in the criminal system, the NFL’s in-house judicial process resulted in an 11-game suspension under the Personal Conduct Policy.

After twice saying he has “no regrets” regarding the situation in 2022, Watson finally apologized in August of that year.

“I want to say that I’m truly sorry to all of the women that I have impacted in this situation,” Watson said at the time. “The decisions that I made in my life that put me in this position I would definitely like to have back, but I want to continue to move forward and grow and learn and show that I am a true person of character and I am going to keep pushing forward.”

The apology happened after Judge Sue L. Robinson suspended Watson six games — but before the situation was settled on appeal with an 11-game suspension and a $5 million fine. (The settlement happened because the league wanted a suspension much longer than six games.)

Watson arguably walked back his apology in August 2026, when he made a sweeping statement in response to the specific question of whether he regrets joining the Browns.

“I don’t regret anything in my life,” Watson told reporters after the preseason game during which he was relentlessly booed. “I think the Lord put me through situations for a reason, so I don’t regret anything at all.”

Watson had another chance to express true and complete remorse in his interview with Prime Video. He didn’t.

He referred to the impact of “the world kind of flipping against me” on his “mental state.” As to the fans who continue to boo Watson “because of who they believe you are as a person,” Watson was asked whether the “skepticism” is fair.

“Fair?” Watson said. “Of course, to me I’m going to say, ‘No.’ But life isn’t fair and I understand. I can accept my responsibilities and everything that I went through and feel and move forward.”

He then acknowledged that he can understand the “apprehension” fans may have.

Through it all, there was no mention of the specific reasons for the apprehension or the skepticism. Rooks referred generally to his past as “unresolved.” Michaels glossed over the incidents that contributed to the world “flipping against” Watson. Herbstreit seemed to search for the right words before referring to Watson as “much-maligned.”

On one hand, it’s a four-year-old story. On the other hand, the effects of it continue to linger. Thursday night’s handling of Watson felt like a deliberate effort to boost his redemption story. But redemption can’t come without genuine remorse. And the full scope of his limited comments about the incidents that derailed his career show that he has never expressed true and full and unequivocal remorse.

That’s the question that remains unanswered. Does he believe he was in the wrong, or does he believe it was a misunderstanding or perhaps a mass conspiracy?

It’s a question that won’t be going away. Even as he thrives as Cleveland’s unlikely starting quarterback in the final year of his fully-guaranteed, $230 million contract, plenty of Browns fans will never embrace him. He can believe it’s not fair, he can characterize it as another test from above. Or he can accept the reasons for the resistance and try to finally say and do something to prove that he understands what he did, that he realizes why it was wrong, and that he’ll use his platform and profile to help make a meaningful difference.

At this point, Watson may not feel compelled to do any of that. His redemption story is being written without the need for genuine remorse, thanks in large part to the way his past behavior was whitewashed on Thursday night.

There is some relatively positive news on Browns defensive tackle Mason Graham.

Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Graham is expected to miss a few weeks with an MCL sprain and an ankle sprain.

Graham underwent an MRI on Friday, which revealed that Graham is not believed to have suffered an injury that will keep him out long-term.

Graham, the No. 5 overall pick in last year’s draft, had registered 4.0 sacks in Cleveland’s first three games. That mark leads the team.

Head coach Todd Monken praised Graham earlier on Friday for how hard he has worked to improve.

Cleveland will have some time before its Week 5 matchup against the Ravens on Sunday, Oct. 11. The club will then face the Ravens at home in Week 6 before taking on the Titans on the road in Week 7.

Browns defensive tackle Mason Graham had to exit Thursday’s victory over the Steelers with a knee injury.

Graham was spotted postgame on crutches and wearing a brace on his knee postgame.

In his Friday news conference, Monken noted he did not have an update on Graham, who is still undergoing tests.

But Graham, the No. 5 overall pick of the 2025 draft, has been one of the team’s best players over the first few weeks of the season.

“He’s a tremendously talented young player, that you could see early in the season it all coming together,” Monken said. “Like I said last week, we want all of our young players to be great right away and we need them to be great right away. That’s the nature [of] the business we’ve chosen. But I just think he’s worked awfully hard. He’s not only active and quick, he’s a highly intelligent player — which I think helps him in terms of reading sets, in terms of communication up front, and he plays with an unbelievable effort.

“So, it’s a shame for him. But, hopefully we get good news.”

Graham has recorded 4.0 sacks with six tackles for loss and five QB hits so far in 2026. He finished last year with 0.5 sacks, seven tackles for loss, and four QB hits.

On Sunday, the Ravens and the Cowboys provided stark examples on how to handle, and how not to handle, the final seconds of a close game in light of the current kickoff rules.

The Steelers and the Browns apparently learned nothing from it.

After the Browns failed to work the clock down to the final few seconds before what became the game-winning field goal, 10 seconds remained.

Like the Cowboys in Rio, the Browns kicked into the end zone, giving the Steelers the ball at the 35. (A cutaway to Browns coach Todd Monken seemed to reveal his dismay.) It opened the door for the Steelers, who had a timeout in hand, to try to gain just enough yardage to allow for a field goal that would have forced overtime.

From the TV copy, it appeared that the Browns were playing the same kind of outside leverage that the Cowboys deployed when the Ravens, who had only seven seconds to work with, gained 27 yards and kicked the walk-off field goal. That gave the Steelers a shot at completing a pass in the middle of the field.

But the Steelers didn’t call a play that would have entailed a quick throw for a moderate gain and a shot at a field goal.

Instead, quarterback Aaron Rodgers rolled to his right, looking to uncork a long throw. The pass, which came back to earth just inside the Cleveland 20, was intercepted. Game over.

Why not try for a 20- to 30-yard gain? Quick decision, quick throw. If it works, take the time out and try the field goal. If it doesn’t, let Rodgers try to connect on another Thursday night miracle.

Coach Mike McCarthy (or Rodgers himself) inexplicably opted for a middle ground, with a long throw that, if it had connected, possibly would have allowed for a time out and a short field goal.

The decision made no sense. The Steelers could have had two shots — a shorter attempt to put them in field goal range for overtime and, if that failed (without an interception), a Hail Mary to win it.

The 2025 shift of the touchback point from the 30 to the 35 has significantly altered the available strategies for the final 10-15 seconds of a game. The Browns repeated the Cowboys’ mistake by conceding the 35, and the Steelers failed to try to seize upon the very real possibility of using the final 10 seconds to gain enough ground to send it into overtime.

Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt had a sack, two tackles for loss, a pass deflection and two quarterback hits on Thursday night, but he was not happy with the defensive effort in the 27-24 loss to the Browns.

After the Steelers tied the game 24-24 with 1:42 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Browns went 36 yards on seven plays to move into range for the game-winning field goal. Watt said that led to the Steelers losing a game they should have won.

“To sit here and not be 3-1 isn’t acceptable,” Watt said, via Steelers.com. “Obviously, it’s a long season, a lot left to go, but we just have to put it together. Even at the end of the game, it was way too easy [for the Browns] getting down the field and getting in [field goal] range. Just have to look at everything and move forward.”

The Steelers’ next three games are against teams with losing records -- the Colts, Buccaneers and Saints -- and then they have a rematch with the Browns. The schedule sets up for Pittsburgh to go on a run, but Watt knows the defense needs to play better.