CBS has dumped plans to open tonight’s Thursday NFL game with Don Cheadle narration over the Jay-Z tune “Run This Town” sung by Rihanna. CBS pregame plans now include more coverage of the Ray Rice/NFL story from CBS News, among other elements. CBS decided to change the tone and format of the pregame show, which also included comedy elements, to a more serious one, including a report form CBS News, an interview with the Baltimore Ravens owner, and comments from Norah O’Donnell, who did CBS News’ exclusive interview on the Rice situation with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that aired in two parts earlier this week.

The “Run This Town” track had been licensed for use during Thursday night NFL games and the NFL announced it earlier this month, saying, “CBS Sports and NFL Network will open each game of Thursday Night Football in 2014 with Jay-Z’s Grammy Award-winning song, “Run This Town” featuring megastar Rihanna.”

Rihanna is among the music performers reportedly in talks with the NFL about performing at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. She also is maybe one of the best known survivors of domestic violence — famously becoming a no-show for CBS’ own broadcast of the Grammys back in 2009 because she’d been beaten up by boyfriend Chris Brown at a pre-Grammy party the previous night.

The idea of using a track featuring Rihanna seemed particularly tone-deaf today to the media — who had been saying so this afternoon — given that tonight’s game features the Baltimore Ravens — the team for which Ray Rice worked until he was cut this week when TMZ released the tape showing the former running back knocking out his then-fiancee in a casino elevator back in February. It also seemed a lousy idea, given that the NFL has just hired the former FBI head to investigate the NFL’s handling of the elevator incident — including Rice’s initial fine of two games, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s interview with CBS News the day after the tape went public, insisting the league did not have access to that video when he gave Rice his initial wrist slap. Only, the AP reported the next day a law enforcement source saying he gave a tape of the elevator KO to the NFL in April.

CBS Sports chief Sean McManus insisted the network is not “overreacting” to the Rice/NFL story, but acknowledged it’s “as big a story as has faced the NFL.”  “We thought journalistically and from a tone standpoint, we needed to have the appropriate tone and coverage. A lot of the production elements we wanted in the show are being eliminated because of time or tone,” he told Sports Illustrated this afternoon in Baltimore.

The track will be used at the open of Thursday NFL games going forward —  a package ends with a Week 16 Saturday doubleheader on December 20. It will be part of a customized open each week highlighting the teams and storylines, featuring Cheadle’s narration as well as the music sung by Rihanna.