Steelers make decision on punt returner Ray-Ray McCloud after fumble

Despite losing the ball on a punt return at a crucial point of Monday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears, Ray-Ray McCloud will remain the Steelers’ punt returner, Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday.

In a back-and-forth game, the Steelers held a 23-13 lead in the fourth quarter when McCloud fielded a punt and took off. While trying to fight for extra yardage, Bears linebacker Joel Iyiegbuniwe knocked the ball loose from McCloud and defensive back DeAndre Houston-Carson recovered it for a Chicago touchdown.

The score helped Chicago cut Pittsburgh’s advantage to 23-20, but the Steelers were still able to come away with a tight 29-27 win. Tomlin spoke about McCloud’s fumble in his postgame press conference, making it clear that he wasn’t happy with it.

“You definitely can’t turn the ball over and give up scores in the kicking game,” Tomlin said.

McCloud’s fumble on the punt return was his second in as many weeks and his third total fumble of the season. The Clemson product is averaging 8.8 yards per punt return.

Pittsburgh Steelers make roster move involving former Jaguars kicker

The Pittsburgh Steelers have released kicker Josh Lambo. Pittsburgh signed Lambo to the team’s practice squad last week after starting kicker Chris Boswell was knocked out of last week’s game with a concussion.

The Steelers were forced to finish last week’s game against the Browns without a kicker as Boswell went through the concussion protocol. With Boswell questionable for much of the week for the Steelers’ Monday Night Football matchup against the Bears, Lambo was added to the practice squad as an insurance policy.

Lambo’s stint with the Steelers was short lived, and it is the second time this season he has been released. He began the year with the Jaguars, missing all three of his field goal attempts and missing two of his seven extra point attempts in three games.

Lambo’s lack of success this year has not been something he is accustomed to. He kicked for five seasons in Jacksonville, making 91.6 percent of his field goal attempts. That is the highest percentage in Jaguars history. Lambo began his career with the Chargers in 2015 after kicking at Texas A&M in college. In his career, he has made 87.1 percent of his field goal attempts.

With the kicking position being so random throughout the last couple of seasons, Lambo could get another opportunity to latch on somewhere at some point. But Lambo won’t get that opportunity with the Steelers. Boswell is set in stone as Pittsburgh’s kicker. He has missed just four field goals since the start of the 2019 season.

On3’s Jonathan Wagner contributed to this report.