INDIANAPOLIS — Colts starting left tackle Anthony Castonzo left Sunday’s 45-26 loss to the Tennessee Titans early in the second quarter with a knee injury.
“I don’t think it’s the worst-case scenario,” Colts coach Frank Reich said after the game when asked about Castonzo’s injury.
It’s uncertain when Castonzo was injured because he completed the previous series without needing help from the training staff on the field.
INDIANAPOLIS — The Colts have signed defensive lineman Grover Stewart to a contract extension, the team announced Saturday.
The extension is a three-year, $30.75 million deal, a source confirmed.
Stewart, who was picked in the fourth round of the 2017 draft out of Albany State (Georgia), was scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
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Stewart has seen his playing time increase in each of the past two seasons. He started 13 games last season and has started all 10 games this season.
Stewart, who lines up alongside of DeForest Buckner on the interior part of the defensive line, has 36 tackles for the NFL’s second-ranked defense.
One of the keys to Stewart’s success this season has been his continued weight loss. He’s gone from entering the NFL at nearly 350 pounds to getting down to around 310 pounds.
“I felt that if I lost weight that I could move quicker and still have my strength,” Stewart said. “I always want to move like a little guy … always consider myself small, so losing weight was a big thing for me. I gained muscle and dropped a lot of fat, so I really helped myself out in the long run.”
The COVID-19 outbreak in Baltimore has led the NFL to postpone the Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers game for a second time.
The Ravens will now play at the undefeated Steelers on Tuesday night at 8 ET, the NFL announced.
Baltimore was scheduled to play host to the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night, but that game also has been moved, to Monday, Dec. 7, at 5 p.m. ET.
“We appreciate the efforts of the NFL and Pittsburgh Steelers throughout this process, while we all work to create an environment that keeps the health and safety of everyone involved at the forefront of each decision,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said in a statement. “Our organization has a plan in place, and we will be prepared to play the Steelers. We thank everyone for their adaptability and look forward to the challenge of facing a very good football team at Heinz Field on Tuesday night.”
This is the third time in the Super Bowl era that an NFL game will be played on a Tuesday. It happened in Week 5 this season when the Buffalo Bills-Tennessee Titans game was postponed because of a coronavirus outbreak in Tennessee. It also occurred in 2010 when a blizzard in Philadelphia shifted an Eagles-Minnesota Vikings game.
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The Ravens and Steelers were originally scheduled to play on Thanksgiving night. The NFL moved the game to Sunday after several Ravens players tested positive in consecutive days.
At least 12 Ravens players have tested positive for COVID-19, including reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson. The Ravens placed Jackson, Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard, defensive lineman Justin Madubuike and long-snapper Morgan Cox on the reserve/COVID-19 list Friday, adding to eight players placed on the list previously this week.
With Jackson quarantining for 10 days, quarterback Robert Griffin III will start against Pittsburgh. Jackson would be available to start against the Cowboys if he tests negative by next week. That means Jackson would have to miss only one game, thanks to the rescheduling.
Harbaugh told his players Thursday that they wouldn’t be allowed to return to the team facility until Monday at the earliest due to safety concerns.
The Ravens have had only two days of walk-throughs this week. Baltimore has been limited to virtual meetings since its team facility was closed at noon Tuesday.
The Steelers canceled practice Friday as they awaited clarification from the NFL. Coach Mike Tomlin also canceled Thursday’s practice, but the team is expected to practice Saturday. The Steelers were last on the field together Wednesday.
The Steelers also made additions to the reserve/COVID-19 list Friday, adding Isaiah Buggs, Jerald Hawkins and Stephon Tuitt. Tuitt is the only starter among the group; it’s Hawkins’ second time on the list.
This isn’t the first time the Steelers have dealt with shifting schedules this season. In Week 4, the Steelers-Titans game was initially postponed from Sunday to “either Monday or Tuesday” of that week as the Titans fought to control their own COVID-19 outbreak. The league eventually pushed the game back even more, rearranging the schedule for the Steelers and Titans to play in Week 7 and the Steelers to face the Ravens in Week 8. With the shuffle, the Steelers’ bye moved from Week 8 to Week 4.
The Cowboys will also alter their practice schedule with the shift in kickoff, although coach Mike McCarthy was not aware of the game-day change when he met with the media Friday.
After the death of strength and conditioning coordinator Markus Paul, McCarthy wants his team to get away from football. Players are off Friday and Saturday.
“I think it’s important for them to be with their family,” McCarthy said. “If we did move to Sunday, I wouldn’t anticipate us going into a normal seven-day week where I would just treat this weekend and probably Monday, Tuesday like a bye week. I think our team could use that. I have no idea what’s going to happen.”
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor and Todd Archer contributed to this report.
Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers features two of the NFL’s marquee stars, quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady.
Mahomes, however, said Wednesday he doesn’t consider himself to be on Brady’s level just yet.
“He’s someone that’s a global star,” Mahomes said. “For me, I just try to be myself and go out there every single day and put in the work and try to win football games. All that other stuff kind of comes with it. For me, I just try to be a normal guy and live it up with my teammates and have fun doing it.”
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Brady won six Super Bowl championships with the
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Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Wednesday he is grateful for Brady’s gesture toward his young QB at the time.
“[Brady] came by the locker room, and I just can’t tell you how much I appreciated that. And Patrick did, too,” Reid said. “It was a respect thing. I just really thought that was great. That was a tough game. He just said, ‘Hey, keep being you and things are gonna work out.’ And I think that just those simple words — that’s big for a young guy to hear, especially from somebody that great.”
Mahomes and the Chiefs (9-1) faced the Brady-less Patriots in Week 4 this season. He said that experience was strange, like playing against Brady with the Bucs (7-4) will be this week.
“I think I was as surprised as everyone was when he wasn’t going back to New England and he was going to Tampa Bay,” Mahomes said. “But he’s in a great spot. They’ve got a lot of weapons there and Coach [Bruce] Arians is a great coach, and they’re winning a lot of football games. For us, we’re just going with the same mindset as if we’re going to play any other great football team and we’re going to have to battle every single play.
“I don’t think it’s going to feel very much different. It’s still a very good football team that’s playing really good football and winning a lot of football games. So we know it’s going to be a great challenge for us, and we’re excited for it.”
Information from ESPN’s Jenna Laine was used in this report.