One of the key storylines surrounding the Steelers vs. Browns matchup this weekend (secondary to the Steelers’ hunt for a first-round playoff bye, certainly, but a key storyline nonetheless) is the aftereffects of James Harrison’s helmet-to-helmet hit on Browns quarterback Colt McCoy in Week 14. Harrison has since returned from a one-game suspension for the hit, but McCoy is still out. Harrison hits also led to concussions for the Browns’ Mohamed Massaquoi and Josh Cribbs last year. The Browns, however, say they aren’t concerned about all that.
“We haven’t even thought twice about [the Harrison hit] after that week,” said Browns linebacker D’Qwell Jackson. “He’s back playing. We’re going to show up, just as usual. That Harrison situation is not a focus of ours, by any stretch.”
“We’re not going into this game thinking about getting even with him,” said Josh Cribbs. “We’re going in thinking to win it.”
What follows in the article is a pretty hilarious Q+A in which Mike Tomlin answers questions about Harrison like “At which point in his career do you think he made the conscious decision to be a headhunter?” It certainly seems like members of the Cleveland media want this to be a huge story. I don’t agree with them, but I don’t blame them, either. It appears, however, that neither the Steelers nor the Browns are indulging them.
Via Jamison Hensley.
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