The Cleveland Browns will meet the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday for the first time since the fight between Myles Garrett and Mason Rudolph, and one player who would be eligible to play will be suspiciously absent.
Safety Damarious Randall, who was ejected in his last meeting with the Steelers due to an illegal hit, will not play Sunday, the team announced Saturday. The intrigue comes from the fact that Randall is healthy, and the decision to leave him in Cleveland was made by coach Freddie Kitchens.
This is noteworthy because Randall is one of the few major players from the heated first game to be available for this one. Randall’s hit caused Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson to bleed from the ear. While it wasn’t a part of the main fight between Garrett and Rudolph, but it set the tenor for a physical half that brought out the bad blood between the two teams. Garrett won’t play due to his indefinite suspension, while Steelers offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey will be serving the final game of his suspension. Rudolph will be benched in favor of Duck Hodges.
Given the lingering bad blood between the two teams and their fans, it’s easy to wonder if Kitchens and the Browns might be trying to diffuse some of the controversy by sitting Randall down.
