Ben Roethlisberger is not happy about Martavis Bryant's year-long suspension.
The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback is not only upset about missing the dynamic wide receiver on the field, but disappointed about Bryant not being completely honest about the circumstances surrounding his suspension.
"I just think the approach, the denial of everything. Looking me in my eye and denying everything, it's tough," Roethlisberger told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It disappoints you as a man and a guy who cared so much about him. I obviously care a lot about him as a person and a football player."
Big Ben said he hasn't talked to his maligned receiver recently and called out Bryant for not responding overtures.
"I kind of put it on his plate. I would love to talk to him, but I have to let him make the move, he needs to reach out to me because I've tried and done those things," Roethlisberger said. "I'm not trying to be rude or mean, but I think he needs to do that, like grow up and reach out and talk to me, anybody. I know he talks to Markus (Wheaton)."
Bryant served a four-game suspension last season and will miss the entirety of what would have been his third NFL year. The lanky, speedy wideout was a clear difference maker when on the field. In his first two campaigns the Steelers averaged 29 points per game with Bryant in the lineup and just 22 PPG without him.
"The potential that he had, both on and off the field and you feel for him as a person first, just what he's going through and get your life right and those kinds of things, that's first and foremost," Roethlisberger said. "But, on the football field, the talent that he had, the sky's the limit.
"He had and has more potential than a lot of guys you've seen. Just the things he is able to do, opening it up for (Antonio Brown). Opening it up for guys in the middle. He is a legit threat out there. So that was very disappointing."
