- Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant will be inactive for the team’s Week 8 game against the Detroit Lions, according to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The punishment is reportedly in response to a message that Bryant posted on social media, in which said ‘he was better than fellow receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster‘ and called for the Steelers to grant Bryant his wish and trade him.
- Bryant has recently voiced his frustration for his lack of playing time. Through seven games, Bryant has played 322 of his team’s 487 offensive snaps, and has seen just 22.3 percent of Ben Roethlisberger’s wide receiver targets. He’s currently ranked 85th of 115 wide receivers with a ‘poor’ PFF overall grade of 51.6.
- Bryant may be unhappy, but the reality is that he’s not been as productive as his teammates through seven games of the season. Among the four Steelers receivers with at least 10 targets, Bryant’s WR rating (passer rating generated when targeted) of 70.4 ranks last and both his average of 1.16 yards per route run and his drop rate of 10.0 percent rank third.
- With Bryant out, fifth-year wide receiver Justin Hunter is set to take his place. Hunter has only seen 13 regular season snaps so far this year, but he was mightily productive for the team during preseason, in which he amassed 91 receiving yards from 13 targets and ended the campaign ranked first among Steelers receivers with an average of 3.37 yards per route run.
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