Ben Roethlisberger urges Martavis Bryant to step up at practice
The Pittsburgh Steelers have high hopes for former Clemson receiver Martavis Bryant after taking him in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger believes he can be as good as Plaxico Burress.
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The 6-4, 211-pound Bryant is build similarly to the former Steelers and New York Giants receiver, but Burress was a first round pick out of Michigan State so there is a lot of work Bryant needs to do before he can live up to those expectations.
Roethlisberger believes Bryant can do a lot of similar things to “Plax” but it all starts on the practice field where “Big Ben” says Bryant needs to bring it every single play on the practice field.
"“He needs to get in his mind that he can help us and that he’s going to push it hard on every single play like the guys ahead of him are doing,” Roethlisberger tells ESPN.com. “If you watch Antonio Brown, he scores on that second play [against the Bills last Saturday] because that’s how he practices.Every day in practice when he catches a slant he’s going to score even if guys touch him down. That’s how he practices and that’s how he plays and that’s what transitions into big things like that. As a young guy [Bryant] needs to keep learning from the veteran guys, and I think he will do that because he wants to be a great receiver.”"
Bryant has a great mentor to look up to in Brown who has developed into one of the top receivers in the NFL and if he can follow his lead like Burress did under Hines Ward, the Steelers could have a nice 1-2 punch in Brown and Bryant.