Steelers running back Rico Dowdle was able to return to Sunday’s loss to the Patriots after being called questionable to return from a toe injury in the first half, but he was ultimately ruled out of the game.
It does not look like there’s concern about an extended absence from the lineup, however. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that further testing “checked out relatively OK” and that Dowdle is considered day-to-day heading into Pittsburgh’s Week 3 game against the Bengals.
Dowdle had seven carries for 22 yards and two catches for 22 yards during the game.
Jaylen Warren and practice squad elevation Travis Homer were the other Pittsburgh backs on Sunday.
Steelers Clips
The Lions signed safety Bishop Fitzgerald off the Steelers’ practice squad on Tuesday, according to the NFL’s personnel notice.
Fitzgerald originally signed with the Titans as an undrafted rookie free agent this spring. He joined the Steelers’ practice squad after the Titans waived him out of the preseason.
Fitzgerald totaled five interceptions last season at USC. He also played collegiately at Coffeyville Community College and North Carolina State.
The Lions cut linebacker Joe Bachie and defensive back Avonte Maddox on season-ending injured reserve with a foot injury that requires surgery.
Bachie played 32 special teams snaps in the first two games but none on defense.
As the contract standoff continues between the Steelers and cornerback Joey Porter Jr., some of the details regarding the negotiations are leaking.
Via Ross McCorkle of SteelersDepot.com, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said Sunday that the Steelers offered Porter a contract that would have paid him “just north of $27 million this year.”
It would have been a significant raise over the $3.924 million Porter will earn in 2026, under the final year of his slotted second-round contract.
The 2026 payout tells only part of the story. It doesn’t mean that the new deal would have averaged $27 million per year in new money. It doesn’t mean that a penny of his compensation would have been guaranteed, for injury or otherwise, in 2027.
Regardless of the specifics, Porter didn’t take it. And Dulac says the two sides currently aren’t negotiating.
Which means that the awkward, week-to-week “injury” dance will continue — until Porter decides to play, until the Steelers decide to play hardball with him, until the Steelers decide to trade him, or until renewed talks lead to a new contract.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye finished second in the MVP voting in 2025. This year, he’s second from the bottom in passer rating among the quarterbacks who have played two games.
The Week 1 game was bad, with three ill-advised fourth-quarter interceptions. The Week 2 performance wasn’t much better, featuring a head-scratching interception after a long completion to receiver Romeo Doubs. Maye finished with 14 completions in 22 attempts for 208 yards and one interception.
After the game, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe asked Vrabel about his concern level with the offense, and whether he’s worried Maye is pressing.
“No, just trying to win the game, Ben,” Vrabel said. “You’re not gonna ruin my Sunday, but I’ll come back to you tomorrow. Thanks, bud.”
Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal tried to ask a related question. Vrabel cut him off.
“You, neither,” Vrabel said. “You’re not gonna ruin it, either.”
On one hand, Vrabel should be happy. With road trips coming up to Jacksonville and Buffalo, the Patriots desperately needed a win. Still, his reaction shows that, yes, there is something to be worried about with the offense generally, and with Maye specifically.
When he’s complaining about Anthony Fauci, ESPN, and/or Shailene Woodley, Aaron Rodgers is not subtle. When he has concerns about his football team, his criticisms are harder to pinpoint.
But they’re still there.
After Sunday’s loss to the Patriots, Rodgers dropped a hint or two regarding coach Mike McCarthy’s offense. And Rodgers did it in a way that will give him plausible deniability if someone else spots it and points it out.
“In a game like today where there wasn’t a lot of flow to it, we need to be better,” Rodgers told reporters after the 20-6 loss. “And that starts with me at like making sure Mike knows what’s working, what’s not working, our coaches know, and — so we can call stuff that we feel like has a better chance.”
In other words, some of the “stuff” McCarthy was calling didn’t have a very good chance.
When asked later about things that are “working” and “not working,” Rodgers said, “The plays were fine.” But he then suggested that perhaps the offense was overloaded with plays.
“If there’s too much stuff in the plan, we’ve got to cut it back,” Rodgers said. “I’m always liking to push the envelope, and if I see guys doing it the right way in practice, then I feel good about it, but we’ve got to transfer the practice to the game obviously and the details gotta come with it.”
The hidden criticisms aren’t off-base; McCarthy himself made similar comments about the size of the game plan.
“We’ve got to look at the volume,” he told reporters after the game. “That’s Marty Schottenheimer, that was his thing. It was a great lesson for a young coach to learn, and here I am some old bastard that didn’t do it this week. If it’s not clean, you cut the volume down, and we’re not clean on offense.
“So the volume is getting cut down. That’s the first starting point, and that’s my fault. I felt it earlier in the week. We’ve got a quarterback that could play at any volume of game plan, but at the end of the day, it’s a team game. We’ve got to give Aaron better platforms to throw off of and have the opportunities because I don’t want to dink and dunk and play all day and play keep-away football.”
McCarthy’s remarks on the volume of the game plan came after he attributed the offensive struggles to things he had observed during the week.
“Felt it in practice frankly, coming off of last week,” McCarthy said. “As I stated, I felt we were real herky-jerky trying to get in the run and pass. . . . The run game was a little bit herky-jerky. . . . But the reality of it is the detail is not there, and that’s on coaching. It starts with me. I’m calling the offense. I have to get the detail better. . . . I felt it on Wednesday and Thursday. I’m a veteran coach. I know better. I didn’t do a good job.”
McCarthy was asked to clarify his comment about “feeling it” during the week.
“Just volume,” McCarthy said. “We’ve done this a long time. You know when the volume is up, and you know when you’re pushing the envelope too. It’s also the first year of the staff and players working together. So you want to push your players, but end of the day, you’ve got to do it to win a game.”
Rodgers has faith McCarthy will make the fixes that need to be made.
“I’ve seen Mike for 14 years. So, Mike is going to take accountability, sometimes when it’s not his fault, doesn’t need to do that,” Rodgers said. “But Mike loves the guys, and he wants us to have some urgency and to bounce back with this, and I know we will.”
They need to. The offense has engineered one touchdown drive in two full games, and it covered only 31 yards. The Steelers easily could have lost to the Falcons in Week 1, and the Falcons looked horrible in Week 2.
In six days, the 2-0 Bengals come to Pittsburgh. And while the Steelers tend to find a way to win certain key games, it becomes a much taller task if the offense isn’t delivering.
At some point, Rodgers himself has to deliver. He’s completing fewer than 60 percent of his passes (his career average is 65.1), he’s averaging only 5.2 yards per attempt (down from 6.7 in 2025), and his passer rating is a very sluggish 72.1. Rodgers has never had a full-season rating below 90.5, and that happened during his 5-12 final year with the Jets.
The Steelers’ offense was putrid today against the Patriots, with Aaron Rodgers able to do nothing in a 20-3 loss.
It was an ugly performance by Pittsburgh that will raise serious questions about whether Rodgers, in what he says is his final NFL season, is going to be able to lead them to anything better than mediocrity.
Today, the Steelers were sub-mediocre. Rodgers managed just 187 yards on 23-of-39 passing, with no touchdowns and one interception, and he also lost a fumble that New England’s Elijah Ponder picked up and returned for a touchdown.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye wasn’t great either, completing 14 of 22 passes for 208 yards, with no touchdown and one interception. But the Patriots got 76 rushing yards from TreVeyon Henderson and 43 rushing yards from Rhamondre Stevenson, and that was enough to control the game on a day when the Steelers’ offense kept punting.
The Patriots and Steelers are both 1-1 through two weeks, but the Patriots have to feel a lot better about where they are going. The Steelers look like they’re going nowhere.
The Patriots have jumped out to an early lead over the Steelers today, but on their second scoring drive, they suffered a big loss,.
Patriots right guard Mike Onwenu was carted off the field a right ankle injury, and the Patriots ruled him out for the rest of the game within minutes of the injury.
Onwenu has started all 17 games the last two seasons and been one of the most consistent players on the Patriots’ offense, and losing him will be a big blow.
New England got a 39-yard touchdown run from TreVeyon Henderson to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, and a 30-yard field goal from Andy Borregales to extend the lead to 10-0 early in the second quarter.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow called it “ridiculous” to think he might miss Sunday’s game in Houston because of back tightness and he is active for the Week 2 matchup with the Texans.
Burrow’s health became a talking point this week when he was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but he returned to full practice on Friday. The Bengals still listed him as questionable for the team’s first road game of the season.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Burrow felt normal while going through Friday’s practice, but was very sore earlier in the week. The Texans pass rush could exacerbate that soreness if they’re able to get to Burrow early in Sunday’s game.
Bengals at Texans
Bengals: WR Ke’Shawn Williams, CB Josh Newton, OL Connor Lew, DL BJ Hill, DL Landon Robinson, QB Josh Johnson, OL Myles Hinton
Texans: TE Brevin Jordan, WR Nico Collins, LB Jake Hummel, CB Collin Wright, G Ed Ingram, OT Nate Thomas, DE Jadeveon Clowney
Panthers at Falcons
Panthers: LB Pat Jones, TE Ja’Tavion Sanders, QB Haynes King, CB Chau Smith-Wade, LB Tyrel Dodson, OT Albert Reese, DT Bobby Brown
Falcons: QB Tua Tagovailoa, QB Michael Penix, DB Billy Bowman, DB Malcolm DeWalt, OL Ethan Onianwa
Saints at Ravens
Saints: RB Kendre Miler, QB Zach Wilson, DB Decamerion Richardson, LB Isaiah Stalbird, DL Christen Miller, OL Mason Murphy, DL John Ridgeway
Ravens: QB Joe Fagnano, WR Zay Flowers, G Andrew Vorhees, OT Gerad Lichtenhan, LB Teddye Buchanan, DL Nnamdi Madubuike
Vikings at Bears
Vikings: QB Kyler Murray, WR Jauan Jennings, DB Zemaiah Vaughn, DB Jakobe Thomas, OL Nick Samac, OL Caleb Tiernan, DL Elijah Williams
Bears: QB Case Keenum, DE Jamree Kromah, DT Jayden Loving, OT Ozzy Trapilo, OL Jordan McFadden
Steelers at Patriots
Steelers: CB Joey Porter Jr., WR Michael Pittman Jr., QB Drew Allar, QB Will Howard, G Gennings Dunker, DT Kevin Jobity, DT Gabriel Rubio
Patriots: CB Carlton Davis, OT Dametrious Crownover, OT Walter Rouse, TE Tanner Arkin, DL Leonard Taylor, QB Behren Morton
Packers at Jets
Packers: CB Benjamin St-Juste, OL John Williams, OL Travis Glover, DT Warren Brinson, DT Javon Hargrave
Jets: CB D’Angelo Ponds, S Minkah Fitzpatrick, K Blake Grupe, RB Kene Nwangwu, LB Joseph Ossai, LB Trevin Wallace
Browns at Buccaneers
Browns: QB Taylen Green, LB Justin Jefferson, S Daniel Thomas, CB Toriano Pride, C Parker Brailsford, G Teven Jenkins
Buccaneers: CB Ayden Garnes, CB Jacob Parrish, G Luke Haggard, G Billy Schrauth, DL DeMonte Capehart, DL Elijah Simmons
Eagles at Titans
Eagles: QB Tanner McKee, QB Cole Payton, WR Elijah Moore, LB Jonathan Greenard, G Micah Morris
Titans: CB Cor’Dale Flott, LB James Williams, OL Atonio Mafi, OL Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, TE Kylen Granson, DT Jackie Marshall
Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. will miss his second straight game on Sunday and his outlook for Week 3 remains uncertain as well.
The plan was for Porter to ramp up his workload this week, but he had to leave practice early on Thursday after his back flared up and he was ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Patriots. Porter is also working on his conditioning after spending all of training camp on the physically unable to perform list.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Steelers are targeting Week 3’s game against the Bengals for his 2026 debut, but that Porter is considering a second opinion on his back. All of this is playing out against the backdrop of Porter’s desire for a new contract that the Steelers aren’t expected to discuss given their longstanding policy of not negotiating during the season.
That impasse has led to speculation about a trade, although nothing appears imminent with Week 2 about to get underway. Should Porter remain out as the trade deadline draws closer, things could change on that front.
Last Sunday, coach Mike McCarthy won in his Pittsburgh debut. (The 20-13 game easily could have gone the other way.) With a win at New England on Sunday, McCarthy will be the fourth coach in Steelers history to start his tenure with the team at 2-0.
Via NBC Sports research, the others were Mike Tomlin in 2007, Bill Cowher in 1992, and Johnny Blood in 1937, when the team was known as the Pirates.
On the flip side, the Patriots hope to avoid starting 0-2 for the second time in 20 seasons. It last happened in 2023, to start Bill Belichick’s final run in New England.
A loss would make the Patriots the fifth Super Bowl participant since 2000 to start 0-2 the next year. It also happened to the 2025 Chiefs, the 2022 Bengals, the 2015 Seahawks, and the 2022 Rams. (Both the 2022 Bengals and 2015 Seahawks recovered to make the playoffs.)
Is it a “must” win for New England? With trips to Jacksonville and Buffalo on deck, it very well could be.
