Mike Tomlin apparently isn’t a believer in the adage that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Instead of quietly telling coaches and players to be sure to get Martavis Bryant some touches this week, he is deactivating the disgruntled wide receiver.
Bryant’s girlfriend began this dispute with a Tweet last week, and Bryant doubled down on it after a quiet game against the Bengals: either start sending me some balls or trade me, he wrote. Bryant skipped the team meetings on Monday.
Tomlin wasn’t amused. He had Bryant working with the scout team today at practices, and plans are for Bryant to be inactive on Sunday night.
Asked why he won’t play, Bryant told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, “social media”.
For fantasy teams desperate for a wide receiver to plug in this week (with six teams on byes) this adds Justin Hunter into the mix as a possibility. He’s the same kind of receiver – a lanky deep threat who can build up speed with his long stride. Hunter is 6-foot-4 and 203 pounds, and was the 34th pick of the draft in 2013.
Hunter didn’t work out in Tennessee, but Ben Roethlisberger was raving about him early in training camp. He caught 2 TDs in the preseason – a short-one in the fourth quarter of a game against Atlanta, and a 58-yard bomb at Carolina in the fourth preseason game (with both teams fielding backups).
Antonio Brown is Pittsburgh’s primary receiver, and they like JuJu Smith-Schuster working out of the slot. Smith-Schuster has been outperforming Bryant. The second-round pick is in the concussion protocol, and if he misses the Detroit game, the Steelers will insert Eli Rogers into that slot role. Hunter will replace Bryant outside, and there’s a least some chance he’ll hit on a haymaker bomb against the Lions.
I would say this with more conviction if I had any confidence in Roethlisberger. He hasn’t played well this year, and he’s long struggled on the road. Since 2014, Roethlisberger has played 30 games away from Heinz Field, and he’s thrown only 30 touchdowns in those games. (That includes playoff games, which I have flagged with asterisks.)
| ROETHLISBERGER ON THE ROAD | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opp. | Score | Pct. | Yards | TD | Int |
| 2014 | Balt. | L 6-26 | 59% | 217 | 0 | 1 |
| 2014 | Car. | W 37-19 | 73% | 196 | 2 | 0 |
| 2014 | Jac. | W 17-9 | 72% | 273 | 1 | 0 |
| 2014 | Clev. | L 10-31 | 50% | 228 | 1 | 1 |
| 2014 | NYJ | L 13-20 | 70% | 343 | 1 | 2 |
| 2014 | Tenn. | W 27-24 | 66% | 207 | 1 | 1 |
| 2014 | Cin. | W 42-21 | 64% | 350 | 3 | 0 |
| 2014 | Atl. | W 27-20 | 77% | 360 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | N.E. | L 21-28 | 68% | 351 | 1 | 1 |
| 2015 | St.L. | W 12-6 | 83% | 192 | 0 | 1 |
| 2015 | Sea. | L 30-39 | 65% | 456 | 1 | 2 |
| 2015 | Cin. | W 33-20 | 77% | 282 | 0 | 1 |
| 2015 | Balt. | L 17-20 | 71% | 220 | 0 | 2 |
| 2015 | Clev. | W 28-12 | 67% | 349 | 3 | 2 |
| 2015 | * Cin. | W 18-16 | 58% | 229 | 1 | 0 |
| 2015 | * Den. | L 16-23 | 65% | 339 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | Wash. | W 38-16 | 73% | 300 | 3 | 1 |
| 2016 | Phil. | L 3-34 | 55% | 257 | 0 | 1 |
| 2016 | Mia. | L 15-30 | 56% | 189 | 1 | 2 |
| 2016 | Balt. | L 14-21 | 51% | 264 | 1 | 1 |
| 2016 | Clev. | W 24-9 | 64% | 167 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | Ind. | W 28-7 | 70% | 221 | 3 | 0 |
| 2016 | Buff. | W 27-20 | 55% | 220 | 0 | 3 |
| 2016 | Cin. | W 24-20 | 58% | 286 | 1 | 0 |
| 2016 | * K.C. | W 18-16 | 65% | 224 | 0 | 1 |
| 2016 | * N.E. | L 17-36 | 66% | 314 | 1 | 1 |
| 2017 | Clev. | W 21-18 | 67% | 263 | 2 | 1 |
| 2017 | Chi. | L 17-23 | 56% | 235 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017 | Balt. | W 26-9 | 60% | 216 | 1 | 1 |
| 2017 | * K.C. | W 19-13 | 68% | 252 | 1 | 1 |
—Ian Allan