Team news: Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Page 74

Antonio Brown is catching Ben Roethlisberger's eye at an incredibly high rate relative to other Steelers wide receivers.

Through three weeks, Brown led the NFL in targets with 40. Roethlisberger has thrown just 35 passes combined to the team's other wide receivers.

That means 53.3 percent of Steelers passes going to wide receivers have gone to Brown.

For comparison's sake, Mike Evans, No. 2 in the NFL in targets, has been targeted on 42.9 percent of Tampa Bay's throws to wide receivers.

The story went on to say in the past three seasons, when Brown had more catches than any player over a three-year span in NFL history, he accounted for 44.4 percent, 48.1 percent and 47.8 percent, respectively, of Steelers wideouts targets. But those teams had dynamic receivers like Martavis Bryant and Emmanuel Sanders.

New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will get some more work in before the preseason wraps. Cruz is expected to play approximately a series or two (8-10 snaps) in Thursday’s preseason finale against the New England Patriots, according to multiple sources.

Cruz will be paired with rookie wide receiver Sterling Shepard. Some of the Giants' offensive starters will receive work as they try to erase the taste of a rough preseason. Star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and quarterback Eli Manning are not expected to play.

How long players play seems to be a case-by-case basis HC Ben McAdoo said in the story. Cruz has spent the last two weeks with the team's first-team offense but the entire unit has struggled for the most part in preseason.

After missing the team's first preseason contest with a groin injury and being usurped on the first depth chart by rookie Sterling Shepard, Victor Cruz's fight for his job continues to be an uphill battle.

After the receiver returned to practice to participate in individual drills, Giants head coach Ben McAdoo told reporters Sunday that the receiver's groin injury is still noticeably bothering him, and he'll be re-evaluated, per Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post.

After suffering a devastating knee injury in 2014 and a rare calf injury that resulted in surgery in 2015, Cruz is again struggling to get healthy enough to make a difference for the Giants' offense. The exception is trending toward becoming the rule, though Cruz downplayed his latest hurdle last week and instead emphasized he was using past experiences to take it slow this time around.

Rookie wide receiver Sterling Shepard gave fans a scare when he left the game with a sore groin.

The story didn't say anything else other than Shepard said he was fine. We all know we can't believe what players say, but hopefully in this case we can. We'll likely know more when the team returns to practice Sunday.

Lost in the brilliance of Odell Beckham Jr. and the emergence of Sterling Shepard have been the New York Giants tight ends. Larry Donnell and Will Tye, last year’s starters, have flown under the radar.

It’s not as if they’re not making plays. Every day it seems Donnell, Tye and even Matt LaCosse are catching balls with the first-team offense. But with the reps split between the three, there haven’t been many days with dominant tight end performances.

It served as a reminder that the Giants may have their deepest group of tight ends in recent years. Donnell, Tye and LaCosse have all looked good as receivers this summer. They have looked serviceable as blockers, the story said.. Donnell is trying to get back to full speed. He fractured his neck last season and the Giants thought he was playing a little slow in the spring. He’s been playing faster this summer, and he was moving well on Tuesday. The story added the Giants are adapting and using many two-TE sets in practice as well as moving around their TEs. Tye has even lined up as a WR.