You all can rest easy now as the long-awaited heart-to-heart talk between Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and wide receiver Martavis Bryant has finally taken place.
“Oh yeah, we talked a few days ago now,” Roethlisberger said Wednesday during his talk with the media. “It was a good one. If he wants to expand on it, he can, but I will not.”
So, the two are now on the same page with one another? one reporter asked.
“Oh yeah, we were really never off the same page,” Roethlisberger said. “It just appeared that way to outsiders, but between us, there was never an issue.”
It goes without saying that everybody should be excited for Bryant to return in 2017 and especially Roethlisberger and wide receiver Antonio Brown. Roethlisberger explained the obvious reasons for that excitement on Wednesday.
“It always helps taking a little pressure – safeties can’t quite lean so hard to AB [Antonio Brown],” Roethlisberger said. “You have to respect what Martavis brings, but Justin [Hunter] and them [other wide receivers] do those things too, and Hey-Bey [Darrius Heyward-Bey] and other guys have been able to do that. But Martavis is a little bit of a different animal out there.”
While Roethlisberger said Wednesday he’s hopeful that Bryant will be able to return to practice as soon as Wednesday afternoon, he really doesn’t know for sure whether or not that will be the case. Even so, he thinks the NFL has done Bryant a disservice by letting him twist in the wind as long as they have when it comes to his conditional reinstatement process.
“I don’t know, I hope,” said Roerthlisberger, about Bryant possibly being able to start practicing on Wednesday. “I mean, goodness, he’s done everything the league’s asked. I’m not really sure why they keep holding him out from being out there with the guys. To me, that’s the best, to be out there with his brothers and so I’m not really sure what the holdup is, but I know he’s doing everything he can to be out there.”
