11AM - Ray Fittipaldo Joins - TJ Watt Update

episode

The Pomp And Joe Show 17 min 5 chapters transcribed

▲ 0

Transcript

jump: chapters · find in transcript

Transcript

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

What are the highlights of the Steelers' recent performance?

0:00

And Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I am neither Pomp nor am I Joe. Jack Hillgrove filling in for those fine gentlemen on this Friday, December 26th, 2025. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. Phone number is 412-928-9370. Right now we head out to the fan hotline, and that is where we find Steelers beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mr. Ray Fittipaldo. Ray, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, all that good stuff. I know the team practiced yesterday, but hopefully you were able to spend some time with the family today. And celebrate the holiday. Hello, good sir. Good morning, Jack. And yes, I was down there yesterday, but only for a few hours. So it was a good holiday. Good stuff.

What updates do we have on TJ Watt's injury status?

0:38

Good stuff. And I didn't hit on this in the last segment before we brought you on. Did you by chance see the first teaser trailer of Madden with Nicolas Cage as John Madden? That, I guess, came out. Well, as always is the case now, like everything in the last six months, I'm wondering, is this real or is this AI? Apparently, Nicolas Cage is going to play John Madden. Is that true? Yeah, yeah. And he kind of, I can't tell if he looks like him or not. Like in one frame of the trailer, he looks just like him. And the other ones, it's just Nicolas Cage in a wig. But yeah, Christian Bales, Al Davis, the cast is pretty stacked. But I wonder if it's just going to absolutely flop once it hits the theaters. But we'll just have to wait and see.

1:23

But yeah, no, it is real. Nicolas Cage is going to be playing John Madden in a biopic. They did actually get the hair right. They got the 1976-77 John Madden hair parted to the side. At least they got that right. Yeah, I'm sure I'll check it out when it hits theaters. All right, now to the Steelers, and we'll kind of start with the injury report from yesterday. The one thing that obviously popped out to me and I think popped out to a lot of people was Jalen Ramsey popping up, did not practice with an illness. What have you guys learned? If anything, have you learned about Jalen Ramsey, the reason he didn't practice yesterday, and what that factors into his game status potentially for the Browns? Yeah, well, the Steelers are about to go out to practice now, so we'll have a much better idea, Jack, about the severity of that illness, if it's an issue, if it's not an issue.

2:19

I don't have any update on what it is or what it was, but a lot of times this time of year, guys are in and out with illnesses, and hopefully for the Steelers' sake, it's not anything serious because, as you know, Jack, they are already dealing with injuries that They don't need their starting free safety to be one of those guys who's going to miss again on Sunday. That's Ray Fittipaldo. He covers the Steelers for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A couple of guys obviously working their way back too, Ray, that have missed some time. Nick Herbig, James Pierre, those guys limited in the early portions of the week. Who should we expect to maybe return to the lineup on Sunday? I think it's really still up in the air.

3:05

I do think Herbig is going to come back, which obviously would solve a lot of your issues. An outside linebacker, as you know, last week they had to start Jack Sawyer, play 90% of the snaps. I thought he did really well, but you're really pushing your starters when you have to play them for the entire game. Herbig coming back will be big for them. I don't get the idea, certainly, if the Ravens lose tomorrow night that they will play T.J. Watt. You know, Jack, I suppose there is a scenario if the Ravens win. Maybe T.J. puts the cape on and you play him 10 or 15 snaps a game. I don't think conditioning-wise he is ready yet, but in that scenario where you would like to wrap it up in Cleveland, I do think there's a possibility that you could see him out there for a very limited number of snaps.

4:00

And I think you probably caught wind of this yesterday, even though it was a holiday. They did sign quarterback Trey Flowers to the 53-man roster, so that probably tells you Brandon Echols is not ready to go.