Bryant talks way into a 1-game suspension
PITTSBURGH — Martavis Bryant has officially become a distraction.
The Steelers’ No. 2 wide receiver — whether by representation, by girlfriend, and/or by his own social-media feeds this past weekend — has talked his way into a suspension for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions.
“I’m not playing Sunday, which is fine,” said Bryant. “I’m not tripping or nothing. It is what it is.”
Bryant, of course, was “tripping” Sunday night after catching only one pass for three yards in the Steelers’ win over the Cincinnati Bengals. After the game Bryant, posted on Instagram that the Steelers need to “give me what I want and y’all can have juju and who ever else.”
JuJu Smith-Schuster, the team’s rookie No. 3 wide receiver, who had five fewer snaps in the game than Bryant, and 33 fewer than Antonio Brown, caught two passes for 39 yards and a touchdown against the Bengals.
Yet, Bryant felt the need to add that “Juju is no where near better than me.”
The post was later deleted, but Bryant failed to report to the team’s practice facility Monday for a meeting, instead calling off sick.
The next day, Mike Tomlin said he would meet with Bryant and “rain down my judgment and we’ll move forward.”
But apparently the meeting did not go well and Bryant was suspended, meaning that at the halfway point of the season, following Sunday’s game and into the bye week, Bryant will have only 18 catches for 234 yards and one touchdown.
In 2015, before sitting out last season with a drug suspension, Bryant caught 50 passes for 765 yards and six touchdowns.
Two weeks ago, after a 2-for-27 performance in Kansas City, someone leaked to national media that Bryant wanted to be traded. He was asked about it Wednesday after practice.
“I’m going to see what happens,” Bryant said. “Right now I’m here, so I’m going to play hard and finish strong and see what happens. That’s all I can focus on right now.”
Tomlin said Tuesday that Bryant will not be traded.
“If I’m not traded, I’m going to work my butt off here and whatever happens, happens,” Bryant said. “You’re not going to hear me complaining or nothing anymore. I’m just going to be quiet and let everything fall into place.”
As for social media, Bryant said, “I’m going to stay off it myself. You see what happens when I get on there. I attract a lot of attention. I learned from it, it is what it is and I’m going to move on from it.”
NO TROUBLE FOR BEN
On Tuesday, Tomlin said Bryant “is a good guy to work with in the building, and has been.” Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger took it a step further.
“You never hear him complain,” Roethlisberger said. “I don’t hear him on the field crying, complaining, wanting the ball, throwing his hands up, not running hard, doing things like that. You see him blocking when other guys catch the ball or during runs. I grab him on the sideline and talk to him about the pictures, like I do with a lot of guys. He’s very engaging, so that’s why all of this is kind of a shock to me.”
Roethlisberger said it won’t affect the team’s morale or chemistry in the locker room, and explained why Bryant is being treated differently than, say, LeGarrette Blount, who was released after causing trouble during and after a Game 11 win at Tennessee in 2014.
“The LeGarrette thing, I think he walked off the field during a game,” Roethlisberger said. “Martavis is out there busting his butt. You watch on Le’Veon (Bell)’s long play, he’s downfield blocking. He’s blocking for AB in the Kansas City game. You hear frustrations when he goes home and gets on social media, but here in the locker room we don’t see any of that and so that’s why it’s maybe treated a little differently.”
Bryant was coming off an excellent week of practice in which he ran down two long bombs in one practice that impressed teammates. But in the game, Bryant lost track of a deep pass from Roethlisberger late in the third quarter and the catchable ball landed over Bryant’s outside shoulder as he was looking inside.
“We’ve had a couple deep balls that were just missed,” Roethlisberger said. “Whether it’s me overthrowing him, whether it’s the Chicago game where he kind of slows down a little bit, this last game where he doesn’t see the ball out of my hand, the plays are there to be had. We just have to make ’em.”
But not until Nov. 12 at Indianapolis, after the Steelers come out of their post-Detroit bye week.
HUNTER UP
Justin Hunter replaced Bryant on the offensive unit Wednesday. He joined Brown, Eli Rogers and Smith-Schuster, who had been in the concussion protocol after taking a hit in Sunday’s game. Bryant was on the scout team.
Missing the practice were RG David DeCastro (not injury related), RT Marcus Gilbert (hamstring), TE Vance McDonald (knee) and DL Stephon Tuitt (back).
QUOTABLE
Roethlisberger on whether Bryant’s foul-up was a product of a young player growing up and communicating primarily on social media instead of face-to-face:
“Probably. That’s one of the reasons I don’t do social media. Not too many good things come from it that I’ve seen. I like to show pictures of my family and things like that. You can get caught up in a game with someone who sits behind a phone or computer. They call them trolls, or whatever they call them. There are a lot of things you can get caught up in if you’re not careful, so I think the best thing is to stay away from it.”