Mike Tomlin’s first regular-season night in the NBC booth came with a small but very visible hiccup, and Maria Taylor wasn’t letting it slide.
During NBC’s NFL Kickoff pregame show from Lumen Field on Wednesday night, Tomlin repeatedly struggled with Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s initials, calling him “JNS” on air. Taylor eventually jumped in to straighten it out.
“JSN, I’m not gonna let you do it again,” she told Tomlin. “I’m not gonna let you do it again, JSN!”
Tomlin, who had just stepped away from the Steelers after 19 seasons, took the correction in stride. It was his first regular-season appearance as an NBC analyst, and only his second time working with the network after debuting as a studio analyst during the Hall of Fame Game in August.
Smith-Njigba has already become a familiar target for name mix-ups this year. Druski drew national backlash in February after badly mispronouncing the receiver’s name while presenting his Offensive Player of the Year award at NFL Honors.
The on-air slip was only one piece of a packed opener at Lumen Field. The Seahawks unveiled their Super Bowl LX championship banner before facing the Patriots in a rematch of February’s title game, with NBC building its entire broadcast around the moment.
Smith-Njigba entered the season after signing a $168.6 million extension and coming off a year in which he led the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards. Sam Darnold is back at quarterback, trying to follow up a championship season, while the defense is built around All-Pro cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
New England brought its own headline names into the matchup. Drake Maye is leading a reworked offense that now includes three-time All-Pro receiver A.J. Brown, acquired to pair with All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez on the other side of the ball.
Tomlin is expected to be part of NBC’s Sunday night coverage throughout the season. After Wednesday, the only question left was whether he’ll have Smith-Njigba’s name sorted out the next time around.
In Other News...
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The timing is especially rough for a Pirates staff already bracing for a bullpen game in the next turn through the rotation. Pittsburgh moved quickly to bring up a right-hander from Triple-A Indianapolis to fill Ashcrafts roster spot, but the larger concern is the loss of a young arm the club would have rather protected as it finished the year. A season that had already tested the Pirates pitching depth just got a little thinner. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Rotation Pressure Just Got Worse With Braxton Ashcraft Concern
Braxton Ashcrafts rapid rise from a lower-workload role to a meaningful part of the Pirates rotation picture hit a snag this week, as the right-hander was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Sept. 7 because of right arm discomfort. Early indications suggest the issue does not appear structural, but testing is still ongoing, leaving the club to wait and see how long it might be without one of its more intriguing arms.
For Pittsburgh, the timing adds another layer of strain to a rotation that already has Mitch Keller on the injured list. Ashcrafts workload had jumped significantly from the previous season, and the Pirates were trying to see how much he could handle as the year wore on. Instead, they are now juggling another pitching question at a point in the schedule where every healthy starter matters. [Read more 🡒]