Cincinnati
Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium in Week 6. With the team now able to relax on
their bye-week in Week 7
Jack Butler Jersey , they will hope to improve on their 3-2-1 record by beating the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens in Weeks 8 and 9. Something I did last
season and I’m going to start again is the Black-and-gold Links article. This is
an article where I take stories from quality news sources across the Internet
and add them here for your viewing pleasure. I won’t be posting the entire
articles, but I’ll link each story and author so that you can read the full
article. Today we talk about how we all might have been spoiled with the early
success of JuJu Smith-Schuster. When the Steelers selected James Washington in
the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, most expected a similar production from
the former Oklahoma State product, but it just hasn’t happened yet. So, what
gives?Let’s get to the news:James Washington fighting through slow start with
SteelersBy: Joe Rutter, Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewIn his first professional game,
he wasn’t targeted for a pass. In his second, he had three catches for 16 yards.
In his third, he caught two passes.JuJu Smith-Schuster’s production at the
outset of his rookie season didn’t generate banner headlines or foreshadow an
emerging star wide receiver. He was like most first-year pass-catchers,
struggling to find his footing in the NFL.The Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t
alarmed by Smith-Schuster’s lack of productivity in the first half of the 2017
season, which is why they aren’t concerned about James Washington’s slow start
this season.Through six games, Washington’s totals are five receptions on 14
targets for 49 yards and one touchdown.“It’s a process for him,” said Darryl
Drake, the long-time wide receivers coach who is in his first year with the
Steelers. “We have to push him along faster and get him more involved. When the
opportunities come for him, he has to deliver.”Washington hasn’t delivered in
each of the past two games. He didn’t have a catch and was on the field for just
16 snaps Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals as the Steelers utilized two and
sometimes three tight ends in formations.The week before, against Atlanta,
Washington had a drop and then was called for pass interference on a deep
pass.“It just takes time,” Washington said. “It’s not going to happen overnight.
You’ve got to keep coming to practice and try to get better and better and take
coaching. It’s hard at times
Joe Greene Jersey , but you have to be available.”Smith-Schuster had similar issues last season although they weren’t as pronounced. He had 15 catches for
192 yards and two touchdowns after his sixth game. His breakthrough came in Week
8 when he caught seven passes for 193 yards, including a 97-yard touchdown,
against Detroit.Smith-Schuster had two more 100-yard games and finished with 58
catches for 917 yards and seven scores.Drake thinks it’s only a matter of time
before Washington gets beyond the growing pains that rookie receivers typically
endure.“In the pro game, we ask them to do so much,” he said. “They have to
understand the coverages, they have to understand what the safeties are doing,
they have to understand the concepts of what we are asking them to do and they
have to be able to make a decision in less than a second.“The thing I try to get
them to do is not think – react. The game is a reaction game, and you have to
react the right way. You have to make sure you are going right instead of
left.”Tim Benz: Steelers on ‘wasteful’ Le’Veon Bell speculationBy: Tim Benz,
Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewCameron Heyward had some advice for the Steelers media
members who might be working over the bye weekend.Some of us might try to find
Le’Veon Bell in an attempt to figure when — or if — the running back is going to
report to the team.”If y’all have to put out an Amber Alert or a milk carton, do
what you gotta do,” joked Heyward.James Conner’s emergence as a reliable lead
running back the past few weeks has mitigated the need to go that far. During
the previous two games — wins against Atlanta and Cincinnati — the second-year
product from Pitt has totaled 314 yards from scrimmage.Those results have put
continued games of “Where’s Waldo” with Bell on the back burner.So if offensive
coordinator Randy Fichtner ever was worried about keeping a packet of plays
ready for whenever Bell ends his absence, the coach doesn’t appear to be
concerned now.”I just think it would be wasteful time management to think about
it,” Fichtner said Wednesday. “When it happens, it happens. We move on from
there.”But like many Steelers fans, Fichtner seems torn over the reality with
Bell. On the one hand, Fichtner is referring to preparation surrounding a
potential Bell return as “wasteful.” On the other, the coach seemed to yearn for
when Bell’s talents are back on the field.Fichtner was asked about the prospect
of having two running backs — i.e., Conner and Bell — capable of running the
ball and catching it with great effectiveness on the field together.”I’ll take
four if we can have them
Ernie Stautner Jersey ,” Fichtner deadpanned. “We want all the good players we can get.”Le’Veon Bell saga: Post-bye plans, payouts, locker room pranksBy: Jeremy
Fowler, ESPNLe’Veon Bell is not in the building.The Pittsburgh Steelers have one
practice left before breaking for the bye. Bell can show up at any time, but
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the team doesn’t expect that to be this week.Now is
a good time to dissect what’s next for Bell and the Steelers in this weekly
saga.Where does this story go next?Bell’s plan was to utilize the two-week
period between the bye and the Browns game in Week 8 to get back into the
football swing with extra practice time. The Steelers open Week 8 with what they
call a “bonus Monday” practice, which Bell can utilize. If Bell doesn’t show by
next week, it’s possible his plans have changed.This is a fluid situation
featuring a team actively trying to trade an unsigned player who hasn’t kept in
contact with it. More fireworks are expected.How do the Steelers’ expectations
for Bell’s reporting correlate with Bell’s plans privately?That’s a key factor
here. Bell hasn’t talked to the team in months, and that’s strategic. Not
informing the club of when he’ll show is exercising his leverage as an unsigned
player. And unless there’s a franchise-tag stipulation that Bell must notify the
team in writing of his return, Bell can simply show up when he wants.How might
this play out?Last season, Bell showed up on a Friday to take his physical and
signed his tender the following Monday. Following the same plan for this week
and next is not out of the question but would be a bit clunky. The building will
be empty save a few trainers or staff members.Bell is from Columbus, Ohio, so
when he leaves Miami, where he’s been training, he’ll likely return home for a
day or two, then transition to Pittsburgh for the fall and winter months.How did
the bye-week dynamic play into this?Over the weekend, the NFL Network reported
the Steelers aren’t obligated to pay Bell his $855,000 salary for the bye week
because there’s no game to be played. I checked on this and can confirm it. I
don’t know if Bell stayed away because of that, but it could be a factor.A few
weeks ago
L.C. Greenwood Jersey , Bell used his official Instagram account to “like” a SportsCenter post about a timeline for Bell’s return.So how does the immediate
payout work upon his return?Well, the two-week roster exemption looms large
here. The Steelers can withhold pay for those two weeks if they see fit -- or
see unfit, if Bell is not in game shape. The best guess here is Bell will report
game-ready. Otherwise, why show up at all? Once Bell is in the building, the
Steelers can make that call. If the Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to move
Antonio Brown via trade this offseason, it would appear they can take the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers off the list of interested teams. Despite having having worked
with Brown before, or perhaps in part because of it, Bruce Arians sounded like a
man who had no interest in bringing his former receiver to Tampa Bay now he is
the new head coach of the Buccaneers.Speaking with Adam Schefter of ESPN on his
podcast, the Steelers former offensive coordinator painted a rather unflattering
picture of Brown’s problems in Pittsburgh.While still acknowledging that AB was
really not a problem in his time with the Steelers.Arians was the man in charge
of the offense when Brown was drafted in 2010 and they spent two years together
until he was let go at the end of the 2011 season. Although AB would only see 16
receptions for 167-yards in his rookie season, he would break out under Arians
in his second season, recording 69 catches for 1,108-yards and the best yards
per catch average of his career with 16.1-yards a reception.That being said,
even if Arians was interested in trading for AB, there is a chance the Steelers
star receiver might have rejected him instead. In light of a post he made on
Instagram back in June, it would appear that Brown still holds some resentment
about the way he was viewed by both Arians and Mike Tomlin when he was first
drafted.Given how much it would seem he feels disrespected in Pittsburgh, it is
hard to imagine Brown wanting to play for a coach who once believed he was
nothing more than a special teams player who was not smart enough to learn the
offense.
