Wednesday’s “First Call” has some critical comments from Ben Roethlisberger about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ tight end usage and their post-whistle penalties.

We also look at the history of the team’s rivalry with Sunday’s opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

And we get an update on Deshaun Watson’s health in Cleveland.

Clean it up

The Steelers were hit with 11 penalties (eight accepted) during their 24-17 win Sunday in Los Angeles. The ones that got the most attention from fans and media were the two taunting penalties from George Pickens and Diontae Johnson, as well as Pickens’ illegal block that partially negated a long catch and run by Johnson in the first half.

During his most recent “Footbahlin’” podcast, former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger avoided stiff criticism of Pickens’ block. But he did go after the post-whistle antics.

“We probably need to talk at some point about the negative plays by receivers in terms of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties,” Roethlisberger said. “George, again. That could have been crucial. He gets a big play and then does a taunt, and Mike pats him on the butt and tells him to get back in there. I just don’t know. How long do we allow that to keep happening? It didn’t end up hurting the team. But what if it did?”

Roethlisberger also seemed a bit dubious of the extent of what Tomlin’s discipline would have been in the wake of those flags.

“It might get talked about in the meeting. It might,” Roethlisberger said Tuesday. “Coach Tomlin might just (say), ‘See that rug? Lift that up and sweep it under there.’ I’ve seen him do it in the past with guys. ‘I’ll put up with you until I can replace you.’”

On Tuesday, Tomlin blamed himself — and the players — for failing to adjust to how tight the game was being called by the officiating crew.

Time for the tight ends

Roethlisberger was also critical of the lack of tight end usage for the Steelers this year — with or without Pat Freiermuth being healthy enough to play.

“Pat is still so underused. So underused,” Roethlisberger said. “The tight end is like a quarterback’s best friend. … For me, it was always the comfort in knowing that the tight end was going to be in the right spot. He was going to be where he was supposed to be. He wasn’t going to ad lib. He wasn’t going to make up his own thing.”

Of course, for Roethlisberger, that guy was Heath Miller. So that’s a very high standard. But it’s also a class — receiving-wise, at least — Freiermuth seems to be in when he’s healthy.

The stats show Roethlisberger has a point. Heading into the weekend, Freiermuth’s .6 yards per route run was the sixth lowest among all NFL pass catchers who have run at least 75 routes. Darnell Washington began the game with 56 routes run but had been targeted just three times.

Freiermuth was targeted only 13 times over the first four games of the season, totaling eight receptions for 53 yards. The tight ends were used even less Sunday in L.A. with Freiermuth scratched. Connor Heyward had just two catches for 23 yards. Washington and Rodney Williams weren’t targeted at all. What made matters worse is that the Rams came in allowing 9.2 yards per target to opposing tight ends — 31st in the NFL.

Whether that’s a Matt Canada design issue or a lack of willingness by Pickett to use those players, that angle to the offense needs to get better.

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Strange history

Coming into Sunday’s meeting, the Steelers’ rivalry with the Jacksonville Jaguars has been a checkered one. The Steelers have won the past two meetings, 27-3 in 2020 (Minkah Fitzpatrick with two interceptions) and 20-16 in 2018 (Roethlisberger had a one-yard run to win it with five seconds left).

However, the Jags hold the all-time series lead, 14-13. That includes post-season victories at Acrisure Stadium in the 2007 and 2017 playoffs.

FUMBLE forçado pelo @Jaguars e Telvin Smith leva a bola até a End Zone para aumentar a vantagem! #NFLBrasil #JAXvsPIT #NFLnaESPN #Jaguars pic.twitter.com/iwudy13pO5

— NFL Brasil (@NFLBrasil) January 14, 2018

The road teams have been dominant of late, having won five matchups in a row. The last time a home team won in this series was Oct. 16 2011. The Steelers grabbed a 17-13 victory behind Rashard Mendenhall’s 146 yards.

Wondering about Watson

Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson may be down for a while. That’s the latest indication from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The word he’s getting is that Watson “has a strain of the subscapularis within the rotator cuff.” In baseball terms for a pitcher, Schefter says that’s often a four- to six-week injury.

Some clarity on Deshaun Watson’s injury: doctors told him that he has a strain of the subscapularis within the rotator cuff and he continues to have both pain and weakness with movement. This type of injury in baseball normally causes pitchers to miss four to six weeks. Watson continues…

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 25, 2023

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If you are looking at the next four weeks for the Browns, they play the Seahawks (away), Cardinals (home) and Ravens (away) before hosting the Steelers on Nov. 19.

Meanwhile, former Browns quarterback Brady Quinn took some jabs at Watson on his radio show. Then Watson’s private quarterbacks coach Quincy Avery fired back on social media. That led to Quinn being unable to avoid taking a thinly veiled shot at Watson’s off-field problems.

Moral of the story? Man, it’s a good thing for the Browns that their defense has been as solid as it has been. Because between this Watson circus and their running back injuries, that defense is going to have to do some heavy lifting.