Aug 18, 2016 6 min read

They played a preseason game Thursday night at Heinz Field. But that was hardly the biggest news of the day for the Steelers.

James Harrison, anti-establishment superstar, is going to sit down and talk to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and his minions regarding accusations – since recanted – made in a report by Al Jazeera America.

Goodell had sent Harrison and the others named in the report – Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers and Mike Neal – letters this week saying they needed to submit to interviews with the league by Aug. 25 or face suspension.

Seven previous times the league had made such a request, without the threat of suspension. That added hammer was the thing that made this a done deal.

“When it came down to it, if it went any longer, I got the suspension,” Harrison said following the Steelers’ 17-0 loss to the Eagles Friday night. “You know, the bigger outcome really wasn’t worth it. I wouldn’t be on the team. It would hurt the team. It would hurt my teammates and coaches. So you know, it was easier just to do the interview I guess.”

Harrison reiterated that he has done nothing wrong.

“They are asking me about PEDs, so I mean, ask away,” Harrison said. “You can ask me about PEDs. I never took a PED in my life. I never failed a drug test.

“Whatever evidence they think they may have or reasoning for questioning me is out of my control. … I wouldn’t have a problem with it being filmed, live you know? Just to make sure there are no questions of what’s going on. The way I’ve been questioned and prosecuted and persecuted … in the media for something I didn’t do, so I don’t see why we could have the media there and do a live interview.”

Jesse James is inconsistent as a blocker. For every two or three good blocks he makes, there also will be one he totally bungles.

That might be a great percentage in baseball. But in football, hitting .750 on your blocks just isn’t good enough.

And as we saw on Landy Jones’ fourth interception, when defensive end Steven Means ran right around him to hit Jones as he threw, it can lead to very bad results.

Jones wasn’t very good Friday night. But his four-interception night was all on him.

In fact, Sammie Coates took the blame for the two that were thrown in his direction and while Jones didn’t point the finger at Coates, I got the feeling from him that the second-year receiver didn’t exactly run the route correctly on the first one, a little curl that wound up being returned for a defensive touchdown.

I also thought Coates could have done a better job playing defensive back in the back corner of the end zone on Jones’ third interception.

Mike Tomlin also seemed to agree that it wasn’t all Jones’ fault when he said: “Sometimes it’s playmaking by them and sometimes, it’s negligence by us, Whether it’s route running or throwing, but they made the plays.”

I know that won’t stop the fans who want to have Jones tarred, feathered and ridden out of town on a rail, but interceptions aren’t always on the QB.

The biggest disappointment of this preseason for me is Sammie Coates. Great offseason. Really strong start to training camp. Thus far in the games? Eh.

Oh, he made a great play along the sideline to haul in a pass from Jones and tap his toes down, and really hit the line of scrimmage with some burst on an end around, but the inconsistency might not be something the Steelers can live with.

Perhaps it will be different with Ben Roethlisberger on the field. Maybe just playing with the first-string quarterback will make that big of a difference. Brett Favre certainly made a lot of so-so receivers look like stars during his career.

But I had bigger expectations for Coates that seeing him let passes go off his hands. That said, he was better in this game than he was in the first one.

The biggest surprise thus far? Eli Rogers.

The little slot receiver seems to be open all the time. In fact, when he came onto the field on a third-down play early in this game, I mentioned to the guy sitting next to me that he was open as soon as he crossed the white line.

Roethlisberger is going to make that kid some money. And that kid is going to make everyone forget that this team doesn’t have a capable tight end to catch passes on third down right now.

Silver linings like that are tough to find in a game such as this, but I also thought the first-team defense did a nice job.

Stephon Tuitt and Ryan Shazier, two of my big keys to why I think the defense will be better this season, are running guys down all over the field.

And did you see Lawrence Timmons breaking up a pass on third-and-1 on the tight end early in the second quarter?

For years, Timmons had continued to add weight, getting up to 250 pounds. Now, he’s starting to go the other way to regain some of his quickness and speed.

The first-team defense allowed 19 yards on six first-half carries. It also allowed just 103 net yards passing on 14 completions.

Tomlin will take that every week.

It’s nice that Chris Hubbard can line up at left tackle. It’s nice that he also can line up at right tackle.

What’s not nice is that he doesn’t have the foot speed to play either position.

Alejandro Villanueva was pretty hard on himself after the preseason opener against Detroit. And truth be told, he wasn’t very good in that game.

By his own account, he won on 7 of 10 snaps in that game.

But, as I noted earlier, hitting .700 as a blocker in the NFL isn’t getting the job done.

Villanueva was much better in this one.