It was announced on Thursday that Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant is now facing a four-game suspension after testing positive for marijuana several times and after the team’s 43-19 Saturday preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills, head coach Mike Tomlin was asked to comment on the status of his second-year player and his potential loss.
“I’m just not going to comment on that at this time,” said Tomlin. “There’s still a lot of elements of that that are unresolved and I’ll address it when we get the totality of it.”
Prior to the game, former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch was asked to comment on Bryant’s situation during the KDKA-TV broadcast.
“We don’t know when the appeal will be heard, but because he’s started the appeal process, it’s at the discretion of the team on whether they choose to start the suspension now, or they let it play itself out like Le’Veon Bell did last year, said Batch. “Because he played the entire season and then the suspension carried into this season. I’d expect to see Martavis Bryant out there as the Steelers let the appeal process happen.”
Batch’s comments are a bit confusing as he makes it sound like Bryant has a chance to play in the regular season opener against the New England Patriots. One would think, however, that his appeal would be heard very quickly, so I wouldn’t get your hopes up just yet.
Bryant played quite a bit Saturday and he played well. He recorded three catches for 138 yards and touchdown in addition to drawing two pass interference penalties.
