With teammates hollering jokes at him from across the room, Martavis Bryant stood at his locker stall at Rooney Sports Complex Monday afternoon and denied that he requested a trade from the Steelers.
A source confirmed to DKPittsburghSports.com hours after the Steelers' 19-13 win over the Chiefs Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium that Bryant was seeking a fresh start because of his displeasure with his limited involvement in the team's stagnant offense.
However, Bryant and two prominent teammates insisted the entire team laughed at the validity of the reports.
"Nah, man," Bryant said. "I’m good. I’m good to go. I’m just going to play ball. Finish the year out strong. Finish strong and move on forward."
His comments echoed a tweet that he posted late Sunday night, which stated that he is happy to be a member of the Steelers. But Bryant did not deny that he is displeased with JuJu Smith-Schuster beginning to have a larger role in the offense.
Big win today and tomorrow right back to work tomorrow I am happy to be a steeler and can't wait to reach number 7 this year.
— Martavis Bryant (@ThaBestUNO) October 16, 2017
Bryant has 17 catches for 231 yards and a touchdown through six games. He’s been limited to three or fewer catches in five of those six games, despite being second on the team among wide receivers by playing 71 percent of the snaps.
In the win over the Chiefs, he was subbed out early for Smith-Schuster and veteran Darrius Heyward-Bey. Smith-Schuster, the 20-year-old second-round pick, has continued to impress the coaching staff and he’s been rewarded with more snaps than Bryant in each of their past four games. Against the Chiefs, Smith-Schuster was moved to the outside, at times for Bryant, for the first time this year.
"It is what it is," Bryant said. "I ain’t complaining. I know my potential. I know what I can do. The little bit I get or whatever I get, I’ve gotta make the best of it. Everything else is out of my control."
A source confirmed to our Mark Kaboly that the Steelers have no current interest in trading Bryant before the Oct. 31 trade deadline. Bryant told reporters that he does not engage in dialogue with the front office, leaving those conversations to his agent. Although he denied expressing any sort of unhappiness, he said he's spoken to the coaching staff — including Mike Tomlin — about what he needs to do to improve after missing all of last season.
Bryant was the Steelers’ fourth-round draft pick in 2014 and signed a rookie contract worth $2.66 million. He was suspended twice — the first time for the first four games of the 2015 season that cost him $120,000 in missed salary to go along with fines. He was then suspended all of last season for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, costing him his full $600,000 salary. His contract was tolled, leaving him under the Steelers’ control until after next season.
He impressed during this year's OTAs and training camp, which had many in the organization believing that he was going to have a year that dwarfed 2015, when he had 92 targets, catching 50 for 765 yards and six touchdowns. It hasn’t materialized yet, though both players and coaches have said recently that they believe it is only a matter of time before Bryant returns to being a game-changing receiver.
The report came Sunday night after Smith-Schuster had 11 more snaps than Bryant in the win.
"I clarified it last night on Twitter, man," Bryant said. "I’m happy to be here. As far as me getting traded, I’d like to get traded to the Warriors, but nah, everything is fine, man. Everything is good. Just going to keep on moving from here and get better from here."
Yes, the players were joking that Bryant wanted to be traded to an NBA team, rather than leaving the Steelers for another NFL franchise. When Ramon Foster was asked about the rumors, he bristled at the question and insisted he thought it was Bryant wanting to be traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Maurkice Pouncey also questioned the validity of the reports, joking that he was being traded to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for his twin brother, Mike.
"There’s always a source," Pouncey said. "Name the source. Who is it? Everybody in the media has a source, right? Did ya’ll hear the news though? Me and Mike Pouncey are switching. I’m going to the Dolphins and he’s coming to the Steelers. Now that’s a source, bro."
Pouncey added that the team "all died laughing" during the flight back to Pittsburgh when reports about Bryant's trade request began to circulate. It was clear from talking to Foster and Pouncey that the Steelers are doing everything in their power to avoid any potential distractions ahead of Sunday's game against the Bengals at Heinz Field.
The Steelers have already dealt with the fallout from the national anthem controversy in Chicago, Antonio Brown's sideline tantrum and Ben Roethlisberger's self-deprecating, yet tongue-in-cheek comments following his five-interception game in a loss to the Jaguars.
Now 4-2 after knocking off the NFL's last undefeated team, the Steelers have a one-game lead over the Ravens in the AFC North and have a difficult second half of the season ahead. Foster wants the potential distractions to stop.
"I’m saying this because we're not going to feed into that anymore," he said. "That’s over. We crushed that. That’s done. That’s how I feel about this locker room. That’s not going to happen about Martavis. He cleared it up. We’re good."