As he is known to do during his weekly press conferences, Mike Tomlin addresses -- some would say embellishes -- the Steelers' upcoming opponent. On Tuesday, the coach somehow managed to make the Cleveland Browns, winners of one game in their past 32, sound like the second coming of the 1947 AAFC champion Browns.
He spoke of veteran quarterback Tyrod Taylor's mobility and decision-making, the Browns' emerging defense, led by former first-rounders Myles Garrett and Jabrill Peppers, and then, he spoke glowingly and at length about Jarvis Landry.
Rightfully so, too. The slot receiver is the Browns' new $75 million toy, acquired in April from the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a relative pittance: a fourth and seventh-round pick.
"Boy, he brings a certain edge to an offense or to a football team in terms of how he plays the game," Tomlin was going on. "He's a combative player, a physical player. He's a football player first."
They used to lather such praise on Josh Gordon in Northeast Ohio. Joe Haden hopes they might again still.
Like Landry, Gordon is also a football player, a receiver too -- but one who hasn't played a whole lot the last three seasons due to his ongoing battle with personal demons that have nearly ruined a once-promising career.
Haden would know. He was there too. The Steelers' veteran cornerback was a teammate of Gordon's for four schizophrenic seasons in Cleveland. They hung out together and, Haden says, he'd routinely defend Gordon in training camp and in some practices. He knew how talented the kid was.
"He's a special receiver," Haden told DKPittsburghSports.com. "He's huge, big, strong, fast. As long as he's out there, he's one of the tops in the game."
Ah, there's the rub: "As long as he's out there."
In Gordon's second year, he earned first-team All-Pro honors -- along with Detroit's Calvin Johnson -- after posting a league-high 1,646 receiving yards, averaging 117.6 per game. In Weeks 12 and 13, Gordon became the first player in NFL history to amass 200-plus yards in consecutive games. The first of those games was against the Steelers when he pulled down 14 catches for 237 yards and a TD (naturally, the Browns lost).
But Gordon put up those astronomical numbers in 2013 despite missing the first two games of the season while serving a suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy.
But, really, everyone should have seen it coming dating back to his time at Baylor, where he was once arrested for being found passed out in the passenger side of a car parked in the drive-thru of a Taco Bell while in possession of marijuana. After an aborted transfer to Utah, he became Cleveland's pick in the 2012 supplemental draft -- the first Brown selected in the supplemental draft since Bernie Kosar in 1984,
But Gordon's toughest opponent has never been opposing cornerbacks and safeties. It's been himself.
If any organization can relate to the travails of dealing with a talented-but-troubled receiver it is the Steelers, who finally exiled Martavis Bryant to the Raiders last spring. But to their credit, through the thick and mostly thin, the Browns have stood by Gordon.
"You definitely root for Josh, he's a good-hearted dude," Haden was saying. "Everything hasn't gone the right way. He's had a tough struggle."
He played just five games in 2014 after a season-long suspension was reduced to 10 games after the league's more lenient drug policy kicked in.
Gordon was then suspended the entire 2015 season after failing a test for alcohol, a violation of the substance abuse policy following his 2014 DUI arrest in North Carolina (.09). That was followed by yet another failed another drug test.
He was eligible for reinstatement to begin the 2016 season but instead he voluntarily entered an inpatient rehab facility. At the time Gordon released a statement: "This is the right decision for me and one that I hope will enable me to gain full control of my life and continue on a path to reach my full potential as a person."
On Nov. 1, 2017, Gordon's petition for reinstatment was granted on a conditional basis, allowing him to return to practice. Thirty-four days later, 1,078 days after his last NFL game, Gordon finally suited up again for the Browns, appearing in the final five games of the regular season.
In Week 17 at Heinz Field, Gordon enjoyed the biggest game of his return, pulling in four passes for a team-high 115 yards, his first 100-yard game since 2014.
In a Disney movie that might make a for a great ending, but that was not the end of the story for Gordon.
On July 24, just days before the Browns were to report to camp, he took a leave of absence as a proactive measure, reportedly to deal with mental health issues. In the past Gordon said he'd self-medicate his anxiety in a haze of marijuana and alcohol.
On Aug. 18, Gordon announced his intention to return to the team via Twitter.
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— Flash Gordon (@JOSH_GORDONXII) August 18, 2018
And, of course, it was also documented by HBO's cameras on Hard Knocks:
On the Browns' unofficial depth chart, updated on Tuesday, Gordon is listed on the second team, behind Antonio Callaway, a fourth-round pick in this year's draft.
According to Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Gordon won't start out of respect to Callaway and those who have put in the time during training camp, but he's expected to play Sunday when the Browns host the Steelers in Week 1 at FirstEnergy Stadium. It will be Gordon's first action in a season opener in six years.
Cleveland coach Hue Jackson reiterated this week that Gordon will have to earn his starting job back, but if he approaches anything close to resembling his 2013 form, that would be a mere formality. How realistic is that? Only time and continued sobriety will tell.
Long after Tomlin talked up Jarvis Landry, I asked the coach about Gordon and what the Steelers can expect from the 27-year-old version of him.
"I just respect what he's capable of from a pedigree standpoint and we better work to minimize him in that way," the coach said.
Obviously, Haden isn't rooting for the Browns. But he still loves Cleveland, still owns a business there, still loves the Dawg Pound. And you better believe he's pulling for his old teammate.
"I'm just really happy for him," Haden was saying. "It looks like he's on the right track. He's doing a whole lot better mentally and physically. As long as he's out there, he's going to be special."