When the Steelers acquired Vance McDonald two days before the preseason finale, Mike Tomlin said the reasoning was Jesse James and Xavier Grimble weren't "varsity enough."
Well, neither James nor Grimble has accomplished much since that challenge from the head coach. Despite McDonald being slowed by the challenge of learning a new offense, he now appears ready for a prominent role after missing practice the past two weeks with a bruised knee.
The 27-year-old practiced with the first-team offense Thursday at Rooney Sports Complex and expressed confidence that he can add to an already dynamic offense.
"It started to come together against Kansas City and Cincinnati," McDonald told DKPittsburghSports.com Thursday afternoon. "With each game, I'm going to get more comfortable with Ben [Roethlisberger] and the playbook. That injury came at a perfect time."
It seemed to come at an inopportune time, though.
McDonald did not catch a pass until the Week 5 victory over the Chiefs, when he had a 26-yard reception with the Steelers pinned back at their own 1-yard line. That was the beginning of a 12-play, 93-yard scoring drive capped by Chris Boswell's 24-yard field goal.
McDonald almost had another big catch earlier in the first quarter, but Roethlisberger overthrew him.
Afterward, the quarterback made it clear that he wants McDonald to be a bigger part of the game plan.
"I want him to know that I’ve got all the confidence in the world in him," Roethlisberger said after the win. "I know he takes it hard on himself when he doesn’t make a play and has a drop or whatever, but we need to get him more involved. He knows the offense now. We need to supplement him and Jesse because they bring some different things to the table.”
James has struggled as both a blocker and a receiver through eight games. He has only 20 catches for 193 yards and two touchdowns — both of which occurred in a season-opening win over the Browns — and has failed to consistently maintain leverage on blocks for Le'Veon Bell.
Grimble, meanwhile, has only one catch all season. McDonald's workload began to increase prior to his injury. He played 32 and 29 snaps against the Chiefs and Bengals, respectively. He caught two passes for 37 yards against the latter, but suffered the bruised knee in the second half and was unable to play against the Lions.
Missing time because of the injury did little to stall his progress. The week off, plus the Steelers' bye last week, allowed him to get healthy for the second half of the season.
So, where does he fit in the offense? Prior to McDonald's injury, the Steelers began to use two-tight-end sets to get him and James on the field at the same time. However, that personnel package is difficult to run on a regular basis because of the talent at wide receiver and Roosevelt Nix's prowess as a blocker.
Despite the lack of production from James and Grimble, Todd Haley did not seem displeased with the play of his tight ends during the first half of the season:
McDonald was rarely able to be in that mix, though. After spending training camp with the 49ers, he was forced to learn a new offense in very little time. However, Haley expressed confidence that McDonald is now ready to take on a larger role.
"He’s been around now," Haley said. "He’s a Steeler. ... It’s human nature to get more comfortable, and you see him understanding what we’re trying to do. He knows the people he’s working with much better, forming relationships and those things that allow you to be your best."
No relationship is as important for McDonald as the one he's forged with Roethlisberger. After all, no player developed as strong of a rapport with Roethlisberger during his career as Heath Miller. The tight end was a safety blanket for Roethlisberger and an impeccable blocker.
He was also a reliable target in the red zone — one area where the Steelers have struggled. They rank 31st in the NFL in red zone scoring percentage, despite having a two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback and the league's leading rusher and receiver.
McDonald, a second-round pick in 2013, had five red zone touchdowns for the 49ers the past two seasons. He has now positioned himself for an opportunity to be a threat again, but it was far from easy in the days after he was acquired.
McDonald said he is far from being the most sociable player in the locker room, although the man in the stall to his right, Ramon Foster, is constantly trying to break him out of that shell. Upon arriving at Rooney Sports Complex, McDonald tried to break the ice with his fellow tight ends by creating a running joke that James didn't like him.
The dry sense of humor was used to combat what was a difficult situation.
"It was mega-awkward, to be honest," he said. "I’m not an extreme socialite to begin with. I came in, I’m a quiet guy and those guys just came out of training camp. ... They were probably thinking they had a set group, and all of a sudden I showed up. It was kind of weird at first, for sure."
James was unavailable for comment Thursday, but Grimble said all three have grown close over the past two months. Well, as close as three people competing for the same job can be.
What they can all agree on, though, is how important the group could be for the Steelers' offense to become elite in the second half.
"Our room, man, we’re doing whatever it takes," McDonald said. "When you have unbelievable receivers on this team, and again, if we all get to the point where we complement each other and share the ball, it’s way harder to game plan than if we’re just throwing to AB, Martavis or JuJu 15 times a game."