The Pittsburgh Steelers should have the most explosive offense of all AFC playoff teams, but that’s contingent on Martavis Bryant being the deep threat Ben Roethlisberger knows the wide receiver can be.
During an appearance on Pittsburgh radio station 93.7 The Fan (h/t ESPN), Roethlisberger said he and teammates want Bryant to get tougher.
“He needs to understand that, and this is coming from love from me and other guys, that this time of year, you’ve got to toughen up. You’ve got to get tough and you’ve got to make tough plays and you’ve got to make tough catches and you have to find ways to do everything you can to help this team.”
Following a strong five-game stretch that included a pair of 100-plus-yard performances, Bryant managed just two receptions for six yards during the last two outings.
ESPN notes Bryant missed practice time because of an illness leading up to the regular-season finale against the Cleveland Browns, where he left due to a strained neck.
Roethlisberger has a gentle way of calling out his receivers. Before the 2015 campaign, Big Ben said Markus Wheaton would have a breakout season, which was apparently a way to motivate the young wideout because Roethlisberger said he wanted Wheaton to “feel that pressure.”
Toughness is an arbitrary term because it cannot really be measured. A handful of factors weight into it, such as pain threshold and ability to deal with conditions like cold weather or an unfavorable defensive matchup.
With that being said, Roethlisberger is basically a master in each of those categories, so he’s speaking from a position of authority, experience or whatever you want to call it.
For the Steelers to make a deep run in the postseason, they’ll need Bryant to be a constant presence on the field and make a couple contested catches. If that means getting tougher, he’d be wise to listen to Roethlisberger.