Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery was on 93.7 The Fan this morning and talked candidly on several subjects. Cotchery, who is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent, talked about his want to stay in Pittsburgh and his meeting with head coach Mike Tomlin after the season ended. Cotchery also talked about the rumor that offensive coordinator Bruce Arians might be gone next year and how he enjoyed playing in his system. He also discussed the great year that Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders had, but thinks they could still use a veteran presence in the lockerroom.
Below are the transcribed highlights from the Cotchery interview and you can listen to the full 10 plus minute interview here as well.
Re: Did you enjoy your time in Pittsburgh?
Cotchery: That\’s definitely true. I had just a great time there this year. It was an unbelievable atmosphere. Everything I expected the organization to be and the players as well and I was just blown away about the way they handle business. I definitely enjoyed this year.
Re: If the opportunity is there, would you like to come back next year?
Cotchery: Yeah, I would definitely love to come back. I expressed that and we will just see how everything plays out, but like I said, I had a great time there this year. I was honored to be able to line up with those guys this year, so hopefully something can get done.
Re: Did you have a meeting with Mike Tomlin and how did it go?
Cotchery: It went very well. They liked what I brought to the table this year and that was pretty much it. I cant get into specifics of it, but they like what I brought to the table as far as a player and a person. So I would love to be back, butt we\’ll have to see how everything plays out this year.
Re: Talk about the report that Bruce Arians might not be back and your experience with him this year.
Cotchery: Well I don\’t know the specifics of that and I don\’t know what is going on it that regard, but I know he has a great system and the guys love the system. I know the guys enjoy being able to stretch the field and make a lot of plays in that system. So I think the guys would love to see him back, but I don\’t know how that is going to play out either.
Re: Culprit to being able move the ball down the field and not being able to score.
Cotchery: Just making plays. That\’s all it is about. Just making plays and sometimes you know we played a lot of good teams, a lot of teams that were very good in the redzone this year, but at the end of the day it comes down to making plays. You know making those tough plays down there, because it is tough to score in this league. I know a lot of teams that have made it look easy, but it is definitely hard to score in this league. So it all comes down to making those type of plays because the windows are very small down there.
Re: Do you wonder just how good Antonio Brown can get?
Cotchery: I think the best thing about Antonio is he comes to work every day. He\’s working at something every day. It\’s never a day off and it is fun to watch all that work pay off for him every Sunday. Just as much work that he puts in on offense, he puts the same work in on special teams and he ended up going to the Pro Bowl on special teams, but he had a great year as a receiver. It was fun watching him, it was fun watching all the guys go to work and I am definitely proud of Mike Wallace being able to accomplish what he accomplished this year as well. So I am proud of both of those guys.
Re: Do the Steelers young receivers still need a veteran presence around?
Cotchery: I think they are ready to carry the load on their own, but you always need a veteran presence in your room. That should be the case across the league. I think that any time you take that veteran presence out of the room, it kind of takes a hit a little bit, even with the talent that you have. So however everything plays out, I don\’t know how it\’s going to play out, those guys are ready to carry the load, but you definitely need a veteran presence.
