Associated Press
The NFL notebook …
NEW YORK ó James Harrison is nothing if not exact. On the field and off.
Though he did not address the media on Friday, after the NFL denied his appeal of a one-game suspension for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Cleveland quarterback Colt McCoy, the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker did respond on his Twitter page.
ě17 games, 1000+ snaps, 100+ tackles, 12+sacks and 2 forces fumbles since my last incident and I get a suspension for a football play!î
Indeed he did, and as a result, Harrison will sit out Monday nightís game against San Francisco.
The ruling was made by NFL-NFLPA on-field appeals officer Ted Cottrell after a careful review of the hit that drew the original suspension on Tuesday. McCoy, who returned during the Steelersí win over the Browns on Dec. 8, suffered a concussion.
The NFL cited Harrisonís history of flagrant hits ó this was his fifth on a quarterback ó in making him the first player suspended under stricter guidelines for player safety.
HURD & DRUGS
CHICAGO ó The attorney for Sam Hurd said Friday that his client had never sold drugs to other NFL players, hoping to put any rumors to rest as the wide receiver without a team prepares to fight federal drug charges that could put him in jail for 40 years.
Less than an hour after Hurd was cut by the Chicago Bears, defense attorney Brett Greenfield told reporters that his client planned to fight the charges and wanted one thing made clear.
“Sam has asked me to address one point, with respect to the rumors that Sam has been supplying drugs to other members of the NFL, out of respect to the NFL, out of respect to teammates and out of respect to other players, he 100 percent denies that allegation,” Greenfield said. “It is patently and totally false. It just didn’t happen.”
BIG BEN UPDATE
PITTSBURGH ó Ben Roethlisberger’s sprained left ankle looks, well, more like an ankle than it did after last week’s 14-3 win over the Browns.
The swelling is down. The rainbow of colors that surrounded the mangled joint earlier in the week have been reduced to a little black here, a little blue there.
That doesn’t mean the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback is any closer to playing on Monday night against San Francisco.
Roethlisberger sat out his third practice in a row on Thursday, hoping another 24 hours of rest will help him avoid missing his first start due to injury in more than two years.
“The goal is as soon as possible to get in there and get in as much work as I can,” Roethlisberger said.
That might not be until today at the earliest.