Roethlisberger On Martavis: 'He Doesn't Want To Go Anywhere'
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PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan)- Another week, another distraction. That seems to be the way business is handled for the 2017 Pittsburgh Steelers.
Ben Roethlisberger joined The Cook and Poni Show for The #1 Cochran Ben Roethlisberger Show to talk about the report that Martavis Bryant wants out.
"He doesn't want to go anywhere," Ben said about his number two receiver. Ben told us he has talked to Martavis and speculated that sometimes agents speak on behalf of the player thinking they're operating in their best interests.
There's also no love loss between Ben and The NFL Network's Ian Rapoport who broke this story given their history.
"The person that broke this story first was the same person that broke the story that I wanted to be traded and I know there's zero-percent truth to that, so I kind of take some of the stuff that he says with a grain of salt."
Ben was asked about the since deleted tweets by Bryant's girlfriend that seemed to support the idea that he wants out.
"I don't know if it's one of those things where at home you've got a bunch of people that are saying 'Why aren't you getting the ball? Why don't you do this? Why don't you do that?' Almost just kind of gassing him up if you will. Like I said, Martavis is an asset to this football team. He's done everything we've asked him to do. Obviously his numbers probably aren't probably what he was hoping and expecting and probably all of us to a certain extent, but you also understand he's been gone for a whole year, it's not like he missed six games, four games, eight games, it was a whole year, and that's tough."
Ben turned his attention to what took place on the field against the Kansas City Chiefs this past week and the spectacular catch and run by Antonio Brown late in the game that helped the team knock off the NFL's last remaining team.
"We got him matched up on what we'd call their third corner and AB ran a quick little wheel route and the safety was still cheating over the top, I kind of got caught between, 'Ok, do I throw it over the top?' If I do, the safety might be able to get there and he might catch it, he might get a hit, a lot of things could happen, so look for a back shoulder type throw. The problem with the back shoulder is that AB had the guy beat, so the back shoulder is not the best option but I did it anyway, it came out a little lower than I wanted it to, and I guess the good Lord wanted it to go our way this time."
Another key play in this week's game came from James Harrison, who was active for the first time since week three against the Bears, and Ben described his late game sack as "awesome" and shared with us the joke he cracked with the team about it.
"In the locker room, I always speak to the team after coach does and I kind of said something, I said, 'Hey Debo, it's about time they got you off the shelf.' I'm sure Steelers fans loved it, we loved it."
Finally, Ben weighed in on possibly the biggest storyline to come out of Week 6, the season ending injury to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on what some consider a controversial hit. Ben didn't necessarily see it that way though.
"It didn't look horrible to me, but obviously if you're a Packer fan, you're an Aaron Rodgers fan, you're going to think it's dirty, maybe I need to look at it closer. I hate it for Aaron, I hate it for the game, the sport, because obviously you lose one of the best players in football, but it didn't appear dirty in my opinion."
Click the link at the top of the post to hear more from Ben on this week's win, what Martavis means to this team and how satisfying it is to bounce back from his five interception game the way he did.
The #1 Cochran Ben Roethlisberger Show is heard exclusively every Tuesday at 11 am during the Steelers season on The Cook and Poni Show on Sportsradio 93-7 The Fan.
