Steelers receiver Chase Claypool enjoyed a debut season for the ages in 2020, adding 11 touchdowns (nine receiving, two rushing) to his rookie-year tally with four of those coming against the Eagles in Week 4. A favorite in the fantasy football community, Mapletron, as the 23-year-old is now known (a reference to both his Canadian heritage and similarities, both physically and stylistically, to former Lions standout Calvin “Megatron” Johnson), made a sensational play in Thursday night’s Hall-of-Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, laying out for a miraculous lunging catch early in the second quarter.
Claypool was credited with a 45-yard gain on the pass from quarterback Mason Rudolph (starting in place of veteran Ben Roethlisberger, who was getting a breather), but went down in a heap at the 29-yard-line, prompting an injury timeout as Fox cut to commercial. The Notre Dame alum would eventually leave on his own power, retreating to the Pittsburgh sideline, where he would spend the remainder of his night. Based on the lack of medical attention he received and his animated reactions to the game, even jumping out of his seat at one point, Claypool’s injury appeared to be—if anything—extremely minor.
But for a few tense minutes, fans and media members—consumed by the fear of losing one of the most exciting young players in football to a serious injury—began panicking on Twitter, livid the Steelers would risk Claypool in a meaningless exhibition.
While Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy essentially played none of his starters (injuries to Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper, neither of whom traveled with the team, obviously made that decision a bit easier), Mike Tomlin employed a different tack with Claypool, Diontae Johnson and Najee Harris all seeing significant snaps. While even established stars like Tom Brady will typically log at least a handful of reps in exhibition play before the regular season, putting Claypool and especially Harris (a first-round pick in April’s draft) in harm’s way barely two weeks into training camp seems like an unnecessary risk for a coach who probably should know better (he’s entering his 15th year atop Pittsburgh’s chain of command).
Luckily for all involved, a potential crisis was averted with Claypool’s injury scare quickly downgraded from imminent catastrophe to false alarm.
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