NFL Notebook: Batch to start for Steelers against Browns
BY Associated Press
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
11/21/12 at 4:13 AM
Charlie Batch is back on the field for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday the 37-year-old Batch will start at quarterback on Sunday in Cleveland.
Batch is 5-2 while subbing for Roethlisberger through the years. Roethlisberger and Byron Leftwich are both out indefinitely with rib injuries. Batch passed for 208 yards in a 27-0 victory over St. Louis last December.
Steelers sign WR Burress: Plaxico Burress is back with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pittsburgh signed the 35-year-old wide receiver on Tuesday to provide depth at a position decimated by injuries. Antonio Brown has missed the last two games with a sprained ankle and Jerricho Cotchery fractured his ribs late in Sunday night's 13-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Burress spent his first five seasons in the NFL with the Steelers, who selected him with the eighth overall pick in the 2000 NFL draft. He played for the New York Jets last year. He missed the 2009 and 2010 seasons while serving a 20-month prison sentence stemming from a gun charge.
Ravens S Reed wins appeal, avoids suspension: Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed has avoided a one-game suspension for late hits after an appeal. He instead will be fined $50,000.
Reed was suspended for one game without pay on Monday by NFL vice president of football operations Merton Hanks for his third violation in three seasons of the rule prohibiting helmet-to-helmet hits against defenseless players. The third violation occurred in Sunday night's game at Pittsburgh, Reed's hit to the head of receiver Emmanuel Sanders.
Reed appealed, and hearing officer Ted Cottrell on Tuesday reduced the penalty.
In a letter to Reed, Cottrell wrote: "I have determined that your actions were egregious and warrant significant discipline. However, I do not believe that your actions were so egregious as to subject you to a one-game suspension without pay."
Raiders waive LB Curry: The Oakland Raiders waived linebacker Aaron Curry Tuesday, two weeks after activating him to the 53-man roster.
Curry played two games after being activated from the physically unable to perform list. He committed two personal fouls in his first game and was only on the field for three defensive and five special teams snaps last week against New Orleans.
Curry, the fourth overall pick by Seattle in 2009, was acquired in a midseason trade last year for a seventh-round pick in 2012 and a conditional fifth-rounder in 2013.
Seahawks rookie suspended 4 games: Seattle Seahawks rookie safety Winston Guy was suspended on Tuesday for four games without pay for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances.
Guy, a sixth-round pick out of Kentucky, has been active for only two of 10 games this season.
